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Two different subjects and two ticks. But I agree it is nature generally, not GCNs which may not even like your pond. there is to much fuss about GCNs. they aren't an issue but make lots of money for the consultants who make a big story out of it. Nothing happens other than the newts and you all being happy.

Yes. And here's what we've done..... This was all build rubble. All of the planting was done by SWMBO. I can't stand gardening. We are surrounded by GCNs - loads of them. 15 at least in this pond , and many hundreds in the 2 ponds either side of us. We named the house Salamander Cottage. Can't beat them? Join them then. The pond is fed by the rainwater from both our roofs, through a rain-garden - here's what happens during a recent thunderstorm .... The water is ducted off the roof into a sand bed - 4 tonnes or so of sharp sand - that is over-planted with water loving stuff. If there's enough rain this happens ... The rainwater pipe terminates under that concrete planter. and a few minutes later Next stop - the pond. The BCO could not have been less interested in our SUDS compliance if he had tried. But we have a healthy population of all sorts of aquatic creatures. And vast numbers of dragonflies - no idea why. The key issue for you is Planning and Sustainability . A similar 'process' simply explained in your Design Access Statement is one of the keys that could help you unlock your Planning Permission Cost? 4 tonnes sharp sand 20 meters of 110 foul drain pipe 5 tonne digger for one day Pond liner Some planning time Visit to RHS Manchester show to look at practical examples £500 max.... maybe £600 Hell of a laugh doing it: especially the grandchildren. Not sure we'll ever tell the parents what we actually got up to but during the digging out but it rained hard that day ......... among other things they got to push their grandad into a pond. No photos .....

Excellent. But note that green roofs don't allow much water to the pond in summer, when you need it, but lots in winter when you don't. With a spillway/overflow to the ditch that will work nicely. A secondary outlet pond and spillway will keep the main creatures safe from being washed away. I built a big pond, primarily to take all the rainwater from a 500m2 roof. No overflow. No Green roof. All the pipes to it are French drains. (Rainwater harvester en-route too but that is out of commission. It is full in winter and completely dry in summer. I got free expert advice on flora and fauna, which was to do nothing and nature will sort it. Will creatures die? Perhaps, but it is nature. There were common newts within months. dragonflies the lot. Mallows are the dominant plant. This is for a commercial building. For my own house I would have a boggy section, lilies and selected plants.

Our rainwater runs to a dyke. There didn't seem to be any advantage in putting it into a lined pond as its not going to soak away effectively, and I didn't want an unlined soakaway that dries out in summer. Also, I built it several years after moving in, so conflict with newts and house construction. April 2021 June 2023

I'd advise choosing your words carefully, and talking more about sustainable drainage than GCNs. Perhaps have words in the landscape plan that give you a trim or an out if you turn out to need it, whilst mentioning it up front. And perhaps build it towards the end. I'm not sure what happens if GCNs appear when you still have 5 years to go on building the house, and someone notices.

I'd leave it off, or at least any specifics, or else out might be held to build it as. You can built it any time in the future.

I put up bat boxes, but our local woodpecker population decided they were going to evict the bats. Guess they can't read the endangered list. We are working out the last few details for digging our pond. We have smooth newts so I am hoping they like it

I would also look into the hold down fixings, unless it’s on a different drawing, those spit fired nails will not be adequate into trench blocks. needs a hold down strap bolted down and secured to some of the studs.

You'd be better off doing a walkover with an experienced builder and even architect and SE. A RICS survey has a set scope and format, and they'll all tell you the same thing. But you won't know really until you start digging and ripping things apart. Just assume worst case and budget accordingly.

In a day, you could actually do a perc test and dig down by the foundation to see how deep it is and/or core the slab. That would give you new info.

You going to stroke the monkey puzzle?

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I do remember your GCN tales when we visited you! And certainly your efforts (joint I am sure) in creating the garden look great.

Yes. I planned a wildlife pond (no fish) to increase biodiversity, to try and soften the blow of developing what was an overgrown 'natural' plot. I don't remember it attracting comments either way at the planning stage tbh, but I like it. We have a healthy newt population but not seen GCN yet. I think all self builders should build a GCN pond/bat box/dormouse hostel if they have the space, then maybe we can get the effing things off the protected list!

Do MBC no longer offer this as part of package?

Yes. If it is to be a wild or semi wild pond then they will look favourably. If it can take rainwater from the house then so much the better. GCNs will find it as will other newts and frogs. 500m is nothing as they roam on land a lot of the year. They will eat the frogspawn and little fish but I think leave big fish alone...which will eat frogspawn and GCN eggs. It is nature, so let them work it out.

Gravel works if it is crushed flint, not whole peas. But crushed rock is better. If no size is stated it will be too big and rather random.

Thanks all for the useful perspectives. I recognise the inherent risk of bias in the original survey and prefer to pursue the Q class route to avoid all the additional demands that full planning will bring. Fully expect to need an SE to validate Architects detailed plans in due course. As @ToughButterCup notes it is really about a risk/cost trade at this stage, where I could still argue for a reduction in price or as a worst case walk away.

You are tackling this the wrong way. If it is excess solar that you are mainly using, then set the immersion thermostat as high as it will go. If you set it lower, then when your tank reaches say 45 it will turn off and your surplus PV will be wasted. So let it just heat as much as it can while the sun is out, and if tomorrow is cloudy and not much sun, you will have plenty in the tank for another day. I would also question if this will actually work for you? Most solar PV diverters supply a pulsed or power limited feed to the immersion heater to match the amount of surplus solar PV. I would expect this smart thermostat will be expecting a continuous power feed to it in order to operate, so I would not guarantee it will work when connected to the output of a solar PV diverter.

Hi @mjc55 We swapped our bottled gas boiler for our ASHP. The Boiler made more noise than the ASHP does. Yes we can hear it in the depths of winter but you have to be listening out for it. It sits on our flat roof 4 meters from our bedroom. Yes we wondered and wondered about the noise before we installed it. Best I can suggest is to find someone with an ASHP and ask if you can listen t it when its on. As @SteamyTea comments above "better speed control of the pumps and fans" has been improved with the result being a quieter more efficient ASHP: AS I understand it before it was either full on or full off. now it slowly increases and decreases. (think of this like a car would react) Being near a window the result would depend on the positions. Ours blows away from our windows and is no problem. However, I would suggest you act with great caution about positioning the ASHP. A quick decision that you live with for a long time. As a rule of thumb, the nearer the ASHP to the building thermal envelope the more efficient it will run. The more free air about it the easier it will work. The shorter the distance between the ASHP and the plant room the more efficient. The thicker and more resistant to thermal change the pipe insulation the more efficient. Inside and outside our property we have used the thickest insulation we could on the primary pipes (pipes from ASHP to plant room). If you site the ASHP away from the building where are you thinking of installing the pipes? Difficult to make suggestions without knowing your layout. Obviously any position you choose and install at, within MCS rules and connected properly, will work, its only the efficiency that would concern me. When you add up all the little details that are not the most efficiently completed on a system bear in mind, the further away the temperature of the water leaving the ASHP compared to the temperature of the outside air, the less efficient it will run. With an ASHP, low and slow wins the day! Good luck Marvin This is a rough example of the efficiency curve:

You/your architect will need to engage a structural engineer and have trial pits anyway. You could also weigh up going for planning to demolish and replace making the sustainability argument as you have the class Q to fall back on. Single story with underpinning can be expensive, if you are lucky the foundations will be adequate. If SUDS/bats/archeology /highways can all be avoided with class Q compared to planning permission, you save a heap of headaches and surveys. Conversions also seem to be more lenient with some of the building regs too because of the compromises. All the best.

That's good for most grids of say 50mm. Any bigger just doesn't fit. Colour is just aesthetics. Unless one stone is harder. I have always used white or cream.

Ah got ya - I need to skim coat as the rest of the wall has lots (seriously lots) of little imperfections all over it, I just wasn't sure what to do about the couple of larger, deeper patches before skimming it. I assume from the depth that trying to do in one hit with the finishing plaster would be a bad idea (would end up 8mm deep in those places!

That's hilarious. Perhaps you need to fit placebo controls

And I think that's the point. In many cases it's good enough. Nobody is claiming it's a universal solution and I think we have established that there isn't and won't be one.

Self-build is exempt... Self-build and custom build applications An exemption applies to this type of development when it meets all the following conditions:   consists of no more than 9 dwellings on a site that has an area no larger than 0.5 hectares    consists exclusively of dwellings that are self-build or custom housebuilding as defined in section 1(A1) of the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding Act 2015

Wood Kraft Moray based in Elgin

my builder checked with HMRC as it was refurbisment of a derelict building -- for over 10 years,60 actually -- he came back with chaging 5% vat on all his work and i will claim rest back at the end along with all the other bits i have bought at 20% from other suppliers

and then everyone complains when water companies discharge overflows from sewerage works into waterways when it rains.... (I know they do it other times but you know what I'm getting at).