Planning to leave wildlife habitats better than we found them
Biodiversity net gain (BNG) is a government policy requiring developers to provide at least 10 per cent more biodiversity than was found on a site prior to its development.
NG has been required for larger developments since February 2024, and became mandatory for smaller sites on 2 April.
There’s a lot to learn, and quickly, for developers working with and submitting planning applications, and for local planning authorities (LPAs) receiving and considering them.
There are two big challenges for all of us.
First, where to start? There is an impressive body of work out there – how do I navigate the plethora of guidance, regulations, case studies, and toolkits?
Second, understanding what happens before and after ‘my part’ of the process. Council planning officers and planning committee members need to understand the sorts of things developers are grappling with, while developers need to know what support the LPA can provide, and what information is required and when.
Colleagues at the LGA’s Planning Advisory Service (PAS) have created a wealth of pragmatic BNG advice and established an officers’ network of more than 1,000 members.
Standing on their shoulders, I’ve been working on ‘BNG Online’ – a collaboration between the government-supported, non-profit making Future Homes Hub and PAS.
BNG Online is a new digital resource that brings together in one place, insight, guidance, and tools for delivering BNG.
It is designed to help developers and LPAs work together and factor in BNG at key stages of the planning process, and is organised around four key development stages:
- sites – how are they selected and allocated?
- application – what advice is available, what information is required, what do I need to do?
- delivery – delivering and maintaining habitats, on and off site.
- monitoring – how do we know what’s happening and who is responsible?
Some elements of BNG Online are more developed than others; for example, what can anyone really know about monitoring until BNG is a little more established?
The planning application stage includes a summary of each stage, key considerations for LPAs, and links to regulations, guidance and resources that will assist in preparing and processing a planning application.
It is not exhaustive and will grow and be updated regularly as we learn more from the experiences of planners, decision-makers (including planning committees), and applicants using it.
This is a great example of the sector coming together.
As well as collaborating with Future Homes Hub, BNG Online has been developed with the input of Natural England, government departments, private sector companies and development industry bodies representing both large and small developers.
If I have learned one thing over the past month, it is that it is a mistake to think of BNG as a post-permission matter.
Successful strategies for the delivery of biodiversity gain must be considered early and throughout the planning process, which means a really important role for pre-application services.
BNG is new for everyone and the more information that LPAs and applicants can share, the more we can all learn about what makes the process efficient and what works best. BNG Online is designed to facilitate this.
We will update and improve BNG Online as we learn more, and we are also working on some specific advice and guidance for councillors that will be published soon.
Access BNG Online, and the Planning Advisory Service website for more support and information on planning issues.