For ecology consultancies, before the site visit
Know which parcels matter before the walkover
Send us a site boundary or a planning reference. Usually within a day you get a two-page desk study: a first habitat map, the records search and the parcels to check on your first visit.
Download a sample report (PDF, 2 pages)
Ecologist signs everything
- 15habitat parcels mapped on a real site in Romsey
- 6.84hectares covered from national data
- 600 msearch radius for protected sites and priority habitats
- £150per desk study, or £1,000 a month for eight
What you gain
Spend survey season on site, not at a desk
Desk work done before you arrive
The maps and records are gathered for you, usually within a day, so your ecologists spend their hours on site and on judgement.
Take on more sites
With desk studies off your team's plate, the same team can quote for and survey more sites in the busy season.
Walk in knowing what to check
Protected sites, priority habitats and the parcels to check are flagged before the visit, so the walkover is planned, not improvised.
A fixed £150 per site
You know the desk-study cost before you quote the job.
Desk studies eat into time on site
- !I spend hours pulling maps and records before every site visit.
- !In survey season my team is stretched too thin.
- !I need to know which parcels matter before I set foot on site.
Habitat Draft does that groundwork for you, usually within a day, so your team can get on with the parts only they can do.
How it works
Send
Send us a site boundary or a planning reference.
Gather
We pull together protected sites and priority habitats within 600 metres, a first habitat map from national data, and tree and hedge heights from the Environment Agency's laser survey.
Walk in
Usually within a day you receive a two-page desk study with a prioritised list of parcels to check on the walkover. The ecologist signs everything.
The Romsey site
This is a real worked example: the 98-home site at Romsey, mapped into 15 parcels. Click any parcel to see its likely habitat, how sure we are (low, medium or high), and what to check on the walkover. The checks are for your visit; the desk study does not score habitat condition. Habitat Draft is built on real current applications, including this one.
A real example, built from public documents. Land east of Southampton Road, Romsey (Test Valley Borough Council, 26/01906/FULLS, 98 homes).
Loading the example
How sure the national data is, parcel by parcel
Low-confidence parcels are where your walkover time matters most. The desk study does not score habitat condition; the ecologist does that on site.
By hand, or with Habitat Draft
PDF · 2 pages
Sample report
See a full report before you pay
A Habitat Draft desk study for land east of Southampton Road, Romsey, built from open data and the council's public application.
- Protected sites and priority habitats within 600 metres
- A first habitat map from national data, with how sure we are per parcel
- Tree and hedge heights from the Environment Agency's laser survey
- A list of the parcels to check on the walkover
Simple pricing
What it does not do
- It does not replace the site survey.
- It does not score habitat condition; the parcel list tells you what to check, and your ecologist makes the assessment.
- The biodiversity units figure is a rough first draft to correct on site, not a finished baseline.
- Your ecologist checks and signs everything.
Who is behind Habitat Draft
Tristan Fischer, Director, Fractional Forge Limited
Tristan Fischer has been chief executive or a board director of fourteen companies, almost all of them hard technology: wind, solar, wave and tidal, batteries, carbon capture and controlled-environment agriculture. He has built three greenfield industrial sites, including a 25,000 m² automated factory, and has raised around £200m for his companies. He started in project finance at Citigroup and later ran corporate venture investments at Shell Technology Ventures.
No calls needed
Send us a site
Fill in the form and we reply by email. If you have the documents to hand, you can also email them to tristan.fischer@fractionalforge.app.
- Questions answered by email
- Usually within a day
- Built from public documents
Questions
How fast is it?
Usually within a day of receiving your site boundary or planning reference. It is a desk study drawn from existing records, not a new survey.
What does it cost?
£150 per desk study, or £1,000 a month for up to eight desk studies.
The data is already out there. What am I paying for?
The hours of gathering. Pulling these maps and records together takes hours per site, and in survey season your team is already stretched. We do not claim the data is unique. We deliver it as a two-page desk study, usually within a day.
Can I use it for baseline biodiversity units?
Only as a rough starting point. On four test sites the draft was 14 to 73 per cent away from ecologists' figures, so it is offered only as a draft to correct on site. It is not a finished baseline, and we do not offer it as one. Your ecologist checks and signs everything.
Does it replace the site survey?
No. It does not replace the site survey and it does not score habitat condition. It gives you a first habitat map and a prioritised list of parcels to check on the walkover. Your ecologist makes the judgements on site and signs everything.
Who is behind Habitat Draft?
Habitat Draft is a Fractional Forge service, run by Tristan Fischer.
Send us a site
Send us a site boundary and get the desk study back, usually within a day. Everything is done by email: no calls or meetings needed.