13 Jun BNG “To be, or not to be” that is the question?
The statutory requirements for Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) have been with us now for the last few years. The development industry is still, however, trying to navigate its way through the process of assessing the baseline of a development site; inputting data into spreadsheets and metrics; and coming up with a BNG unit figure. It is often a confusing and complex process, impacting on development programmes and constantly causing frustration in all sectors – local authorities, consultants, developers and ecologists.
Whilst as planners we are often caught up in the theoretical assessment, it is not often that you have the chance to see what BNG can achieve. PJB Planning along with DLA Town Planning did have the pleasure of attending a morning at Wildfell Centre for Environmental Recovery near Wethersfield, Essex (https://www.ground-control.co.uk/insights/news/wildfell-centre-for-environmental-recovery/), and being shown around the 296-acre site. 96,000 trees have already been planting, 2.3km of new hedgerow, 11 new ponds, 60 acres of species rich grassland, 54 acres of ancient woodland, 36 acres of mixed scrub, and 1.5 acres of traditional orchard. It is obvious to see that this type of project has a significant positive impact on the environment and creation of ecology habitat. The centre is also establishing walking routes benefiting the local community and an overall enhanced and managed landscape.
This way off utilising under-used land for nature recovery is therefore a very positive approach to significantly enhancing biodiversity.
Back to the development side of things, many of the projects that PJB Planning are involved with fall within the SME category (1 to 9 dwellings). With an ever-increasing amount of information needed to support even a single dwelling application, the impact of the current BNG assessment process is having a significant negative impact on preparing these type of planning applications and progressing applications through the planning process. There has got to be simpler way of dealing with this process, either through exempting this form of development from BNG requirements or setting a much more straight-forward assessment and mechanism to contribute towards sites like the Wildfell Centre in Essex. If the process could be made more straight-forward and streamlined, then there is an opportunity for greater buy-in from the development industry and to achieve significant ecological improvements.
The Government are currently consulting on improving the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain until 24th July 2025. The following weblink is to the online consultation form, which would allow you to submit your comments and thoughts on BNG to Government: