Biodiversity Net Gain Update 16.01.2024
Key Update
BNG requires an increase of biodiversity either on or off site by 10%.
BNG comes into force on applications 10 or more dwellings or more than 1000m2 commercial floorspace in January 2024
BNG comes into force for smaller sites (less than 10) in April 2024.
Small sites will be subject to a less onerous process using the ‘small sites biodiversity metric’.
Habitats created will need to be secured for 30 years.
Permitted, Householder and Self Build Applications are exempt but still may have biodiversity conditions imposed.
30 January 2020 is established as the base date for measuring biodiversity and an ‘anti trash’ measure
What Is Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
Brought in by the 2021 Environment Act, BNG is the requirement for all planning applications to demonstrate a measurable increase in biological diversity on site. This includes creating habitat for but not limited to: birds, bats, insects, plants, bacteria, fungie, mammals etc. The key point is the increase must be measurable under DEFRA’s biodiversity metric which will result in additional planning conditions to be discharged prior to occupation and which will be enforced for at least 30 years.
How is BNG measured
BNG will be measured using calculators provided by Natural England to establish a baseline for the site as existing which must be undertaken by an Ecologist or competent person. This will involve the identification of habitats and total area they cover.
Once baseline is established the proposal will be entered into the calculator to indicate its current BNG. If this falls below the required 10% amendments will be required to the landscaping proposal to modify the habitats on site to reach the threshold. These habitat modifications will be secured by planning conditions.
Definition of small site
For residential: where the number of dwellings to be provided is between one and nine inclusive on a site having an area of less than one hectare, or where the number of dwellings to be provided is not known, a site area of less than 0.5 hectares.
For non-residential: where the floor space to be created is less than 1,000 square meters OR where the site area is less than one hectare.
Exemptions
Householder development
Permitted development
Small scale self/custom build developments of no more than 9 dwellings and is carried out on a site no larger than 0.5 hectares
Sites where baseline BNG is zero
Applications submitted before BNG is implemented
Section 73 Variation of Condition applications where the original was granted before January 2024 or the application for the original was submitted before January 2024 (or April 2024 for non-major applications)
Reserved matters applications on outline permissions issued before January 2024 (or April 2024 for non-major applications).
What will be required
Planning Applications affected by BNG will require additional documentation and processes as part of the submission to demonstrate compliance. These are:
BNG calculator as note above
Site Plan indicating the types of habitats and coverage areas
A proposed Site plan indicating the changes in habitat areas and areas created.
Habitat management and monitoring plan for BNG (min 30 years)
Discharge of the imposed prior to commencement condition whoms wording is yet to be released.
BNG improvement works must start within 12 months of a development's commencement.
On Site
The intention of the legislation is for as much of the BNG to be addressed on site. This will also in all likelihood be the cheapest approach.
Retention of existing habitat does not count as an on-site enhancement.
What counts as a significant enhancement will vary depending on the scale of development and existing habitat, but these would normally be:
habitats of medium or higher distinctiveness in the biodiversity metric
habitats of low distinctiveness which create a large number of biodiversity units relative to the biodiversity value of the site before development
habitat creation or enhancement where distinctiveness is increased relative to the distinctiveness of the habitat before development
areas of habitat creation or enhancement which are significant in area relative to the size of the development
enhancements to habitat condition, for example from poor or moderate to good
Examples of significant enhancements include creating a wildlife pond or a nature park.
Non-significant enhancements
Non-significant enhancements are habitat enhancements that will be included in your metric calculations, but that will not make a significant difference to the development’s biodiversity value.
Examples could include private gardens (such as for new homes) which have a low distinctiveness value, or container planting. These enhancements do not normally require maintenance provisions, so for non-significant enhancements, you do not need to have an legal agreement or commitment to maintain them for 30 years.
Off Site
If on site mitigation is not enough to reach a 10% increase then land nearby can be earmarked for improvements of a similar nature to those noted above. However the distance to the development affects the efficacy of the improvements by a scaling factor. I.e. the further the off site mitigation is away from the development the less biodiversity value it is worth in the calculator.
The improvements off site will need to be in a similar vein to those that would be proposed on site.
Statutory Credits
Finally if neither on or off site provision is available a statutory credit or part there off can be purchased. It should be noted that these credits are extremely expensive, currently sitting at a starting price of £42000 per credit which again are scaled by distance to the site.