Sustainable development is high on the political agenda which means improving biodiversity and preventing biodiversity loss are key drivers for developers, land owners and local planning authorities alike.
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is an approach used to improve a sites biodiversity value. Once applied, a completed site will have a positive ecological impact, delivering improvements through habitat creation or enhancement after avoiding or mitigating harm.
Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) sits within the Environment Act.
The Act requires all development schemes in England to deliver a mandatory 10% biodiversity net gain to be maintained for a period of at least 30 years. The concept seeks measurable improvements for biodiversity by creating or enhancing habitats in association with development.
Development proposals must “leave biodiversity in a better state than before”.
BNG means developers and land owners in England must ensure their projects deliver biodiversity improvements to meet the required 10% increase.
They must determine and evidence a project’s final BNG value using the specified Defra biodiversity metric if they want their plans to move through the planning process swiftly.
A biodiversity metric is a tool, such as Defra’s Biodiversity Metric 3.1 used to measure changes in biodiversity. Metrics do not take protected species into consideration, focusing only on habitats.
Metrics assign every habitat on a site a ‘unit value’ according to its relative value for biodiversity. Once this value is determined for both the existing site and the proposed development, comparisons can be made and used by the local authority to inform planning outcomes.
The metric helps developers and landowners to ensure their project increases the overall biodiversity value of a site.
The value of a habitat will be measured considering the following factors:
We’ve been delivering BNG for some time and know how to achieve a site's maximum value. Our experience has shaped our approach, how we assess BNG and how we deliver it for our clients.
We've summarised what we've learnt into eight key factors that integrate BNG into your development plans effectively.
Our project experience has highlighted a number of issues and pitfalls that can pose a real threat to BNG success. Our series of short video blogs address some of the complexities that may arise when applying BNG on site.
We cover:
BNG is a complex matter and, at first glance, can seem daunting. Our informative CPD webinar covers everything you and your team need to know about BNG and how to deliver it.
To find out more, get in touch using the form below.
Biodiversity Net Gain is now becoming mandatory on all development projects in England which means any development proposal needs to demonstrate how it will improve biodiversity and how this will be maintained for at least 30 years.
The implications for developers and land owners is huge and failing to deliver BNG could be a costly mistake. In this webinar, delivered in November 2020, Mike Barker, Director of Ecology, demonstrates how to integrate biodiversity net gain into development plans, avoid costly mistakes and effectively and legally manage a site to achieve maximum value.
Use the form below to watch our webinar now.
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Designing green infrastructure into your developments can tick a lot of boxes from both a planning and environmental perspective. With so many benefits to be gained, integrating Landscape, Ecology and Hydrology into the early masterplanning process is fundamental. In our free, one hour webinar, Director or Ecology, Mike Barker and Director of Urban Design, Jonathan Stewart share how to deliver truly integrated, multi-functional green space that adds real value to your project.
Stephen Lockwood
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RPS is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We will only use your personal information to administer your account and to provide the products and services you have requested. We would also like to contact you about our products and services, as well as other content that may be of interest to you.