Jacobs has been appointed by Great British Energy – Nuclear to deliver environmental consultancy and baselining at the Oldbury site in Gloucestershire, earmarked as a potential location for a new nuclear power station. The work will characterise existing ground, groundwater, ecological and radiological conditions to support future nuclear site licensing, environmental permits and design optioneering. Early baselining data will be critical for later geotechnical investigations, foundation design, flood and coastal risk assessments, and long-term monitoring strategies if the project proceeds.

A UK Government research paper concludes that Nature-based Solutions such as floodplain reconnection, riparian woodland and leaky barriers are most effective when planned and modelled across whole catchments rather than as isolated site schemes. The study stresses integrating NbS with existing hard defences, using hydrological and hydraulic modelling to quantify peak flow attenuation and downstream level reductions under design storm events. For civil and drainage engineers, this points to earlier basin-scale option appraisal, multi-landowner agreements and long-term monitoring of storage volumes, infiltration rates and sediment behaviour.

A former Ibstock extraction site, Dalton Quarry, is being converted by Green Earth Developments Group into a biodiversity “bank” of engineered habitats to generate tradable biodiversity net gain (BNG) units for UK infrastructure schemes. The project will create a mosaic of habitat types on previously worked quarry land, allowing developers to purchase pre-accredited BNG units rather than delivering all ecological uplift within constrained project footprints. For civil and geotechnical teams, this model could influence land-take, earthworks design and long-term aftercare obligations on major road, rail and housing projects.