Ecology & Flood Risk Assessment – New Mill, Eversley

Commissioned by Priory Land Limited UK carried out an ecological Appropriate Assessment and a Flood Risk Assessment for a two unit housing development adjacent to New Mill, in Eversley, Berkshire.

Natural England required an Appropriate Assessment to be undertaken for this development due to its proximity to Bramshill, a European protected site that forms part of the Thames Basin
Heaths. The majority of this site has been designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) under the Birds Directive (79/409/EEC).

The aim of this Appropriate Assessment was to provide information for Wokingham District Council that would identify any potential adverse effects that might be associated with this
development, and which could compromise the integrity of the Special Protection Area.

The site was located within 120m of the SPA boundary, and therefore classified as Zone A. Recommendations were made to mitigate for the recreational disturbance associated with new
residents of the development.

The Flood Risk Assessment identified that the development would lie within Zone 3 (high probability of flooding) according to the Environment Agency Flood Map.

Investigations showed that the depth of flood water in a 1 in 100 year flood is likely to be 100mm or less, however the development would be raised 300mm above ground level. In addition, the
development would not exacerbate the flood risk downstream, as a flood compensation scheme had already been implemented to offset more than the amount of storage lost as a result of the proposed development. Accordingly, it was deemed that the development has passed the Exception Test and is therefore appropriate for the development site area.