Biodiversity Net Gain or BNG, will under The Environment Bill become a mandatory excersise for developments in England. Local Authorities will require development to demonstrate through the planning application process how they will deliver a Biodiveristy Net Gain.
Developers will be required to submit a BNG Assessment and calculation using Natural England’s Biodiversity Metric. Effectively this shows a comparison of the pre and post development biodiversity values.
We can assist during the early stages of design to consider the most important and valuable existing habitats and how these can be protected and retained as part of the development.
Where possible the development should aim to deliver a BNG on the site and this may include habitat establishment and enhancements on-site. Where this is not possible the development will need to agree and secure off-site compensation, either on other owned land, as a financial contribution or through a habitat banking service.
Wherever the net gain is located there will be a requirement to manage the post-development habitats for at least 30 years after the development has been completed.
