{"id":38573,"date":"2023-12-19T17:06:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-19T17:06:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsblogsnew.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=38573"},"modified":"2023-12-19T17:06:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-19T17:06:29","slug":"biodiversity-net-gain-defra-updates-advice-on-what-lpas-should-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/?p=38573","title":{"rendered":"Biodiversity net gain: Defra updates advice on what LPAs should do"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-38575\" src=\"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/DEFRA.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" \/>The Department for Environment, Food &amp; Rural Affairs (Defra) has updated advice on how local planning authorities (LPAs) can ensure that developers and land managers meet the requirements for biodiversity net gain (BNG).<\/h3>\n<h6><em>image: Open Government Licence v3.0<\/em><\/h6>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2 style=\"padding-left: 40px;\"><em><span style=\"color: #800080;\">\u2026 If the LPA grants planning permission\u2026.the developer must submit a biodiversity gain plan\u2026<\/span><\/em><\/h2>\n<p>GOV.UK writes:<\/p>\n<p>Local planning authorities (LPAs) can set policies to support biodiversity net gain (BNG). They can identify local areas suitable for habitat creation and enhancement to help:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>landowners who want to sell off-site biodiversity units<\/li>\n<li>developers who need to comply with the BNG requirements<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>LPAs can make sure developers know about:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>the requirement for 10% BNG<\/li>\n<li>local policy requirements for BNG, such as local nature recovery strategies<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If the local nature recovery strategy has not yet been published, LPAs should say what plans are currently in place.<\/p>\n<p>Local nature recovery strategies identify the places and habitats that are most beneficial for nature and get 15% more biodiversity units than the same habitat created elsewhere\u2026.<\/p>\n<h2>Facilitating transactions of units<\/h2>\n<p>LPAs may be able to introduce sellers and buyers to each other by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>developing matching services<\/li>\n<li>providing a habitat bank register that lists local gain sites for sale<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Approving planning applications and biodiversity gain plans<\/h2>\n<p>If the LPA grants planning permission for the development, the developer must submit a biodiversity gain plan. The LPA will then need to decide whether to approve the biodiversity gain plan by considering whether the 10% BNG is achieved.<\/p>\n<p>Planning permission includes a general biodiversity gain condition.<\/p>\n<p>Developers cannot start work on a development and the LPA cannot publish a development on their register until the LPA has approved the biodiversity gain plan.<\/p>\n<h2>Before approving a planning application<\/h2>\n<p>Before approving the planning application, the LPA should check any significant on-site enhancements or off-site gains are appropriate, legally secured and that a maintenance and monitoring plan is in place for 30 years.<\/p>\n<p>LPAs should check the required metric calculation for habitat before development and biodiversity information have been submitted with the planning application.<\/p>\n<p>This will ensure the final biodiversity gain plan takes account of any amendments made after the initial planning permission.<\/p>\n<h2>Reviewing the biodiversity gain plan<\/h2>\n<p>Developers can submit their biodiversity gain plan for the LPA to review, after planning permission has been given.<\/p>\n<p>LPAs must decide whether to approve a biodiversity gain plan within 8 weeks. LPAs must notify the applicant with the decision.<\/p>\n<p>If the LPA approves the biodiversity gain plan, they must publish the decision on their planning register.<\/p>\n<h2>What to check<\/h2>\n<p>LPAs should check the biodiversity gain plan explains:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>how the developer has applied the biodiversity gain hierarchy<\/li>\n<li>the biodiversity unit values before and after development<\/li>\n<li>how the developer will deliver the 10% BNG<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The developer must submit their:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>completed biodiversity metric calculation<\/li>\n<li>pre-development and post-development plans (showing the location of on-site habitat, the direction of north and drawn to an identified scale)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The developer must also provide any of the following that apply to their application:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>compensation plan (if the metric advises that they need to)<\/li>\n<li>site\u2019s reference numbers from the biodiversity net gain register<\/li>\n<li>proof that they need statutory credits<\/li>\n<li>statutory biodiversity credits proof of purchase<\/li>\n<li>habitat management and monitoring plan<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>There is a biodiversity gain plan template. It is not mandatory, but asking developers to use it could help with standardising the submission of biodiversity gain plan and metric information.<\/p>\n<p>Find out how to review the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/biodiversity-gain-plan\">biodiversity gain plan template<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/biodiversity-net-gain-what-local-planning-authorities-should-do#setting-local-policies-to-support-biodiversity-net-gain-bng\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read more\u2026.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department for Environment, Food &amp; Rural Affairs (Defra) has updated advice on how local planning authorities (LPAs) can ensure that developers and land managers meet the requirements for biodiversity net gain (BNG). image: Open Government Licence v3.0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-38573","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sector-newsblog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38573","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38573"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38573\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38576,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38573\/revisions\/38576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38573"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=38573"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsblogs.ihbc.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=38573"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}