Add the boundary
Draw it on the map or aerial photo, or upload a GeoJSON, KML or zipped shapefile. The tool works out the area and which local planning authority, or authorities, the site falls in.
Private beta · England
Every constraint around your red line, measured.
Draw or upload a site boundary. Site Baseline searches the official datasets you would check on MAGIC and elsewhere, measures the distance from the boundary to every feature, and gives you tables ready to paste into your own screening reports and desk studies.
Free during the beta. Built by an environmental consultant for environmental and planning professionals.
40official datasets searched
<15 stypical search time
7report-ready sections
Word + Excelexports, or copy one table at a time
How it works
From red line to report tables in three steps
The slow part of a screening is measuring. Site Baseline does the measuring, so you can spend your time on the judgement.
Set your buffers
Choose a search distance for each group, such as 10 km for statutory sites and 2 km for heritage. Save them as your defaults so every site is searched the same way.
Copy the results
Get one table per section with distance, direction, overlap area and source date. Copy a table straight into your template, or download Word and Excel versions.
What it checks
The layers you would look up by hand
Queried live from the organisations that publish them, every time you search.
Statutory ecological sites
SACs, SPAs, Ramsar sites, SSSIs, National and Local Nature Reserves, with the nearest site named even when it falls outside your buffer.
Non-statutory ecology
SSSI Impact Risk Zones, ancient woodland, priority habitats, Ancient Tree Inventory records and Local Nature Recovery Strategy areas.
Landscape and access
National Parks, National Landscapes, Heritage Coasts, country parks, open access land and registered common land.
Heritage
Listed buildings with grade, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites, conservation areas and Heritage at Risk.
Water and flood risk
The 2025 Flood Map for Planning zones, flood zones plus climate change, 2025 surface water risk, flood storage areas and source protection zones.
Air quality
Air Quality Management Areas, with the nearest one named if none falls within your buffer.
Land and planning
Green belt, provisional Agricultural Land Classification, tree preservation orders, Article 4 areas and brownfield register sites.
Some data is not published nationally, such as Local Wildlife Sites and species records. Each report lists these with who holds them, so nothing gets missed.
Built for your report, not ours
Unbranded tables that fit your template
- One table per section. Paste each into the right place in your own report, and it takes on your styles.
- Edge-to-edge distances and directions, measured from the red line in British National Grid.
- Overlap areas for flood zones, habitats and land classification, in hectares and as a share of the site.
- Source and date on every row, plus a log of every dataset searched, for your audit trail.
- Clickable map with links to each designation's official record.
1. Statutory designated sitesWithin 10 km · example
| Designation | Name | Distance | Dir. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Special Area of Conservation | River Itchen | 120 m | SE |
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | River Itchen SSSI | 120 m | SE |
| Site of Special Scientific Interest | St. Catherine's Hill SSSI | 970 m | S |
| Local Nature Reserve | Crab Wood | 3.8 km | W |
Special Protection Area: none within 10 km. Nearest: Solent and Dorset Coast, 14.0 km S.
Evidence, not opinion
The tool measures. You decide.
Site Baseline reports what official datasets say and how far away it is. It does not judge whether effects are likely to be significant. That stays with the competent professional writing the report.
Every figure can be traced to a published source and a date, so the facts in your report can be checked.
Private beta
Try it on your next screening
We are inviting a small group of consultants, planners and land agents to use Site Baseline free and tell us what to improve. Leave your details and we will be in touch.
Questions
Frequently asked
Is it free?
Yes, during the beta. We will agree pricing with beta users before anything is charged, and you will never be charged without signing up to a paid plan.
Where does the data come from?
From the organisations that publish it: Natural England, Historic England, the Environment Agency, Defra, the Woodland Trust and the government's Planning Data platform. Each result shows its source and the date of the data.
How accurate are the distances?
Distances are measured edge to edge from your boundary in British National Grid, to within about 5 metres plus the accuracy of the source dataset. Surface water risk is read from the Environment Agency's map at about 2 metre resolution, so those figures are approximate and labelled as such.
Does it work outside England?
Not yet. If a site or its search area crosses into Wales or Scotland, the tool tells you which part is not covered. Wales is next on the list.
Does it replace a consultant?
No. It gathers and measures the evidence. Deciding what that evidence means, and signing off a report, stays with a competent professional.
Is it safe for confidential sites?
Yes. Your site boundary never leaves your computer: it is measured inside your browser, and nothing about the site is sent to or stored by Site Baseline. To look up designations, your browser asks the public data services for everything in a rough rectangle around the search area, rounded to a 250 metre grid, so the shape and exact extent of the site are not revealed. Site names, results, exports and figures stay on your computer. See the privacy notice for details.