Suffolk Biodiversity Validation Checklist

Updated September 2019

The Validation Checklist should be used where a Biodiversity or Geodiversity Assessment is required because the site includes or is close to:

• Sites designated or proposed for their biodiversity or geodiversity importance, i.e. Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), Ramsar sites, National Nature Reserves (NNR), Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), Special Protection Areas (SPA), County Wildlife Sites (CWS), and UK and Suffolk Priority (BAP) Habitats and Regionally Important Geological/geomorphologic Sites (RIGS) designations. 
• Areas including or close to recorded locations of Protected species, and UK and Suffolk Priority species.
• Other areas identified in pre-application discussions as potentially containing Protected and Priority species.

The appropriate seasons for undertaking ecological surveys are identified in Fig. 2, attached to Table 1.

The Checklist includes the relevant extract from the British Standard on Biodiversity (BS42020). BS4020 is a Code of Practice for biodiversity in planning. Section 8 refers to the requirement to provide adequate information to enable determination of planning applications.