Image: surveyor in yellow jacket and hardhat looking at diggers in field.
Parliament has put in place laws necessary for biodiversity net gain (BNG) to operate, and the promised draft secondary guidance has been published.
The Environment Act 2021 requires BNG policy to make sure that nature is left in an even more beautiful state after development, as this will restore biodiversity and ecosystems in England—where they’ve been lost over the past several decades. As a tool of the Act, BNG policy can only do this if it has an advantageous effect.
This announcement was made by the government in conjunction with other commitments directed towards biodiversity. It encompasses an array of funding initiatives that are meant to support the country’s natural environment. We see that these initiatives include a £15 million support package for protected landscapes, £2.5 million aimed at getting children involved in nature, and £750,000 for the recovery of England’s temperate rainforests.
Amazingly, no other policy in the world resembles this one, which means that BNG is establishing the blueprint for steering urgently needed restoration of nature globally.
Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, stated:
“We are reasserting the UK’s leading role in promoting our iconic landscapes and keeping nature at the centre of our action to tackle climate change.”
What was published in the secondary BNG legislation?
A bit more clarity concerning the implementation of the biodiversity net gain (BNG) policy has been kindly given by the consultation on the draft secondary legislation and it will apply to all relevant funding agreements since February 2024.
While the biodiversity net gain (BNG) policy was certainly known to be difficult, the draft legislation along with the policy statement has given us an even clearer indication of just how complex it will be in practice.
This includes clarifying what an ‘irreplaceable habitat’ actually is and how these areas will be distinct from biodiversity net gain, necessitating a developer and local planning authority case-by-case agreement to proceed.
It provides guidance for developers on how to submit a biodiversity gain plan to their local planning authority after planning permission has been secured. The authority has 8 weeks to respond to the plan, and acceptance it discharges the required planning condition.
Are there any faults in the secondary BNG legislation?
The new ‘biodiversity gain hierarchy’ is a welcome addition. It permits developers to use off-site solutions for medium and low-distinctiveness habitats. The problem is that legislation seems to favour on-site rather than off-site biodiversity net gain.
Enforcing on-site biodiversity net gain (BNG) delivery could be a lot more difficult and could generate less-than-ideal results for developers. We know that, in many situations, creating habitat on-site could threaten overall project viability by unduly restricting the area available for development. So, achieving on-site biodiversity net gain (BNG) delivery “within the red line boundary” (i.e. the area available for development) already seems an impossible task in many situations, namely densely populated cities.
It will be very hard to ensure adequate protection, oversight, and upkeep of on-site biodiversity net-gain habitats. If habitats are not guaranteed to be under control, developers could find themselves on the wrong end of a planning agreement.
The biodiversity improvement potential of large logistical schemes, commercial warehousing, retail buildings, ports, and infrastructure developments is fairly limited. Most of them are just big, ugly boxes standing on concrete pads or tarmacked surfaces. By their very nature, these kinds of developments consume space, resources, and energy.
In what way will location influence the implementation of BNG policy?
We believe that the habitat banks should provide services to the local communities in which they operate. This is necessary to make sure that they are aligned with and support the local plans and policies that those communities have put in place. Overall, there is a concern with regional policy variability and the relationship that it has with land availability for habitat banking. If the local policies affecting land use are too variable, then that has a direct impact on the ability to reliably provide habitat banking as a service.
We back a stable, foreseeable national strategy and welcome further clarification on how local policy-making can complement national policies on biodiversity net gain (BNG) without causing local market distortions, constraining land supply, and pinching
developers’ options for achieving the biodiversity net gain (BNG) condition.
Image: scientist checking plants in soil.What changes might occur in the future for BNG?
We expect to see a more sophisticated method of delivering biodiversity net gain emerge from the legislation. Avoiding impact should undoubtedly take precedence, but we hope the changes in the law will better reflect the value of compensating for losses to nature.
After off-site delivery of biodiversity net gain (BNG) has clearly proven to be effective, it would be wise for legislation to acknowledge this success. It should then continue to grant off-site local gains equal standing to on-site gains. This would greatly simplify matters for developers trying to deliver on biodiversity net gain (BNG) in a working-way-found manner.
BNG allows us to use the best ecological principles to create not only habitats that are augmenting and ameliorating what is already there, but also to create “better, bigger, and more joined up” areas for biodiversity. The off-site benefit is abundant, and thus we are confident that off-site solutions will at least assist in delivering BNG once the legislation comes into effect.
In what ways can a Habitat Bank guarantee that BNG is delivered strategically?
The Planning and BNG Delivery team has Chartered Planners who offer expert application support for every kind of development and application. This includes the full range of projects covered by the Town and Country Planning Act, as well as Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs). From the start of the development, we organise a well- structured and smooth biodiversity net gain (BNG) consulting process. By doing so, our panel of experts offer you a reliable, frictionless, and cost-effective route through the planning process.
The locations of large-scale ecological restoration projects are carefully chosen by biodiversity unit providers. They are found in places of potential ecological significance and are also found in areas where development pressure is high. In this way, our work makes a strong case for nature’s continued existence in places where it seems that nature’s days are numbered.
Contact Biodiversity Surveyors today for Help with BNG Requirements
We are happy to witness the enactment of biodiversity net gain (BNG) policy, as the release of secondary legislation is another step toward effecting real change in biodiversity recovery across England. Now that the secondary guidance has been published, developers can start the work necessary to bring about truly effective biodiversity gain.
Developers can commence drafting the gain plans that the legislation commands. They can also begin setting aside for off-site habitat banks the biodiversity units that the legislation commands.For more understanding of the precise ways in which the new biodiversity net gain (BNG) rules affect developers and planners, please contact us today.
