n operation which is not on the ORNEC list for that site
Get free advice from Natural England
Get advice from Natural England before submitting your proposal. This is likely to reduce delays to Natural England’s consent process.
You can get free advice from Natural England:
- to check if your proposal will significantly affect a SSSI
- on what you should include with your proposal
- about routine and repeated operations on the SSSI, including routine agricultural activities
- on their views about management of your site to reach favourable or recovering condition
- about management measures specific to your site’s notified features
- on potential sources of funding
- about the law on protecting the SSSI
In all cases you’ll get an initial free consultation from Natural England.
Pay for standard advice
You can pay for extra advice from Natural England if what you want to do is more complicated. Natural England can:
- help you review your survey results
- advise on your mitigation strategies to reduce damage to the environment
- advise on drafting your consent application
- help if you need advice quickly (in less than 28 working days)
- help if you need complex advice to meet a defined deadline
Contact Natural England as soon as possible if you need advice quickly.
If you want Natural England’s advice you must ask for it before you submit your notice for consent.
How much you might pay depends on:
- the amount of advice you need from Natural England and how complex your proposal is
- whether or not a Natural England adviser needs to visit your site
- how quickly you need advice
If you want advice on how to avoid damage to protected sites or species, you’ll pay £110 per hour.
If you want a meeting, you’ll pay:
- £500 per adviser for a 90 minute meeting: at your site, a Natural England office or using a conference call
- £110 per hour per adviser for each additional hour
If you want an adviser to travel to your site, you’ll pay the adviser’s:
- travel costs at 45p per mile
- public transport, tolls and expenses over and above the mileage at cost
- travel time as part of the hourly rate
You may also need to pay if your request form is incomplete. Natural England will return the form and request the missing information.
How to apply
Fill in the consent advice request form for the standard advice service.
Email your completed form to: email@example.com.
Read Natural England’s.
Pay for fast-track advice
You’ll pay £500 for help to draft a notice for a straightforward case and get a response within 28 working days.
You’ll pay £110 per hour for a more complex case. You can specify when you need your response by.
How to apply
Fill in the fast-track consent advice request form for the fast-track advice service.
Email your completed form to: firstname.lastname@example.org.
Read Natural England’s.
Pay for the quick check service
You can use Natural England’s quick check service to make sure your draft proposal contains all the information required before you submit your consent notice. You’ll pay £200 for this service. You’ll get a response within 28 working days. This service is not suitable for complex cases.
This service does not give you consent to carry out operations on your SSSI land. You must serve a statutory notice on Natural England, before it can give consent. Find out how to get Natural England’s consent.
How to apply
If you use the quick check service, fill in both forms on the quick check service page.
Email your completed forms to: email@example.com.
Read Natural England’s.
Get consent to carry out operations on your land
You must get permission to carry out:
- ORNEC on your site
- other activities that may damage the SSSI, such as an event or surveying - including those carried out by a third party
Discuss your proposal with Natural England.
If you apply to the Forestry Commission for a felling licence within a SSSI, you’ll need Natural England’s consent. This is for operations not described in the licence, such as where vehicles cross the SSSI to get to the felling location.
Read the guidance on how to get Natural En