Consideration of Wildlife and Biodiversity - Biodiversity net gain
As part of your planning application, you will need to consider the impacts your proposal may have of wildlife and their habitats on or close to your application site.
We offer assistance with this process through our Biodiversity Net Gain pre application advice which you may wish to take up.
Your planning application will need to assess what harm to wildlife it may cause and then provide evidence of how your application will mitigate this harm and once complete will prove beneficial to wildlife in the future.
In order for your planning application to be validated you will need to consider if it impacts on protected and notable species. You may well need to acquire some professional ecological advice to help here, particularly if your development effects the roof area of older properties or if your proposed development is near a nature reserve, woodland, mature trees or a water body. A professional ecologist will be able to determine if your proposal will cause harm through appropriate surveying and provide measures that will ensure your application can adequately mitigate this harm.
The services of a Professional Ecologist can easily be searched for, but you should assure yourself of their competence prior to employing them. Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) is a professional body that ecologists can join, an ecologist demonstrating they are Full or Chartered members of this institute may give you some assurance of their competence. If detailed ecological works is required relating to protected species it is important to assure yourself that the ecologist you employ has the appropriate licensing to work with that particular species.
As part of your application, you will also need to consider your application’s Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) requirements.
Exemptions
You should first check to see if your application is exempt from BNG.
If you feel your application is exempt, complete the Biodiversity net gain exemption form below.
You may find Biodiversity net gain: exempt developments - GOV.UK useful before completing the form:
Applications that are not exempt
If your application is not exempt, you will need to determine what sort of BNG assessment you require. If your application is small, e.g. less than 9 units and less than 0.5 hectares in size, or a commercial development that is less than 1 hectare,
AND does not impact on notable or protected species, you can, if it is easier, use the small sites metric and this can be completed by a competent person. Statutory biodiversity metric tools and guides - GOV.UK
With larger sites or applications impacting on notable or protected species then you will need the services of a professional ecologist to complete the full version of the metric.
You may wish to consult us for Biodiversity Net Gain pre application advice.
Application checklist
You will need to supply the following to validate your planning application:
- A copy of the appropriate metric
- A BNG report which evidences how the inputs into the metric were arrived at
- A plan showing the baseline habitats
- Discussion on any site degradation
- Discussion on whether any irreplaceable habitats are being impacted upon
- Any information related to protected or notable species
You should also supply evidence that your application will deliver
- a minimum of 10% net gain
- how it has complied with the biodiversity hierarchy
- a draft Habitat Management and Maintenance Plan (HMMP)
Biodiversity net gain statement
To show how your development has considered biodiversity net gain.
A biodiversity net gain statement either provides justification that the development is exempt from statutory biodiversity net gain or shows how a development will achieve 10% biodiversity net gain (BNG). Submit this form as part of your planning application together with all supporting documents.