Biodiversity Net Gain today (April 2) becomes mandatory for small site developments. As RichardPritchard asked back in February: ‘Are we Ready’? 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. Two of the big challenges for all of us are:
- Where to start? There is an impressive body of work out there – how do I navigate the plethora of guidance, regulations, case studies, toolkits?
- Understanding what happens before and after ‘my part’ of the process. LPA planners need to understand the sorts of things developers are grappling with, developers need to know what support the LPA can provide, and what information is required and when.
BNG Online – getting acquainted quickly with BNG
I recently moved across programmes at PAS to begin work on BNG. In at the deep end, lots to learn and enormous shoes to fill. My colleagues Beccy Moberly and Richard Crawley have steered the PAS BNG ship expertly, creating a wealth of pragmatic BNG advice and establishing a network of over 1,000 members.
In my new pair of enormous shoes, and standing on the shoulders of giants, I’ve been working on what (somewhat serendipitously) is the perfect foil for accelerating my understanding. It’s called ‘BNG Online’, it launches today and is a collaboration between Future Homes Hub & 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 local planning authorities to work together and factor in BNG at the key stages of the planning process. It is organised around 4 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 & off-site.
- Monitoring – how do we know what’s happening and who is responsible?
This is just a start
Some elements of BNG Online are more developed than others (e.g. what does (can?) anyone really know about monitoring until BNG is a little more established?). The planning application stages (the ‘PAS bit’) include 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, still being developed (Beta they call it) and will grow and be updated regularly as we learn more from the experiences of planners and applicants using it.
The sector working together
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, Defra, DLUHC, Joe’s Blooms, Verna.Earth and development industry bodies representing both large and SME developers.
Why this is important
If I have learned one thing over the last month, it is that it is a mistake (despite how the system for planning approval has been designed) to think of BNG as a post-permission matter. Successful strategies for the delivery of biodiversity gain have to be considered early, and throughout the planning process. 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. This is where planners and developers using it can help – tell me what you think here or email me (martin.hutchings@local.gov.uk) and let me know how it can be improved.
Planning Advisory Service 
BNG also has a ‘legacy’ impact for LPAs and other Authorities and providers of infrastructure. It’s not just about looking forward. Community infrastructure and land provided through planning obligations but not yet delivered (most large sites take several years to build out) will now have BNG costs that were not factored in several years ago. For example on school sites BNG is now an additional cost to the Education Authority. Going forward BNG can be factored in to requests, but past S106 present more of a challenge. Please also look at two tier authority examples in S106 and BNG examples.