What is biodiversity net gain (BNG) and when is it happening?

What is biodiversity net gain (BNG) and when is it happening?

Biodiversity net gain will become mandatory for ‘major’ planning applications on 12 February 2024 and for ‘minor’ planning applications on 2 April 2024. Information about the existing biodiversity on site, sometimes called a baseline assessment, will need to be submitted by applicants. If planning permission is granted, a plan to create at least a 10% improvement of biodiversity, from the baseline assessment, will need to be provided.

How does it fit into planning?

The biodiversity net gain requirement has been agreed by the Government and is additional to existing local and national policy and guidance. If permission is granted then a statutory condition, called the General Biodiversity Gain Condition, is applied – this condition cannot be changed or removed. Not every development will need to provide biodiversity net gain. A full list is available on the .gov.uk website (Biodiversity Net Gain - what are the exemptions? - Land use: policies and framework (blog.gov.uk) but householder applications do not need to provide net gain information. The documentation needed for biodiversity net gain is contained in our local validation list which is available on our how to apply page. https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/planning/how-apply-permission/how-apply-planning-permission/what-documents-you-need-submit)

How will it be worked out?

A metric has been developed by the Government that will allow all the relevant information to be submitted and can be downloaded from the .gov.uk website (Statutory biodiversity metric tools and guides - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The metric is very detailed, and it is recommended it be completed by a qualified ecologist. The tool will help work out the value of the biodiversity on the site and measure this in ‘units’. This will mean the 10% increase in ‘units’ can be shown as part of a planning application. The metric will need to be supported with other information including whether if the increase in biodiversity will be provided on or off site and/or if there is an exceptional ecological reason to not follow the metric.

How will it be secured?

Where the improvement to biodiversity is provided on the site, it is expected this will be in place for a minimum of 30 years and will be monitored over this time. The Council will likely use planning conditions or a legal agreement to make sure this is the case. The Council will also have to provide a report on the status of biodiversity net gain at least every five years. Where the improvement to biodiversity is provided off the site, a legal agreement will be required to secure this, and the improvement will need to be registered with Natural England.

Can it be provided in another way?

If it isn’t possible to provide biodiversity improvement on or off the site, it will be possible to ‘credits’ from the government. This would need to be explained as part of the planning application process. More information about credits is available from the .gov.uk website. (Statutory biodiversity credits - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Off-site Biodiversity Net Gain Enquiries

If you are a developer looking to purchase off-site biodiversity net gain units or a landowner / within the Borough that is looking to supply off-site biodiversity net gain units, let us know by emailing BNGEnquiries@wokingham.gov.uk.