Biodiversity: gains to be made but uncertainty remains
Biodiversity Net Gains. It was back in 2019 that the then Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that any new development would have provide a 10% uplift in the biodiversity of the site in order to achieve planning permission.
A lot can change in three years, for example we have gone through four Chancellors in that time, however BNG remains. This concept is being brought into planning law and will become mandatory by 2023, although it has already been voluntarily adopted by many local authorities. The new policy will require any new development to demonstrate a net gain of a minimum of 10% of the biodiversity value of the site, measured using Defra’s Biodiversity Metric. This will apply to development that requires permission under the Town and Country Planning Act as well as to Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects.
To achieve this gain, developers have two options available to them: they can either create a new habitat or enhance the existing habitats on site. Both options will involve a mix of wetlands, planting and managing woodland, and creating and maintaining wildflower meadows. Regardless of the option chosen, the habitat must be locked in for a minimum period of 30 years. In order to ensure no habit is recoded twice, all agreements need to be registered with Natural England. All avenues should be explored to retain the biodiversity uplift on the site where the development takes place, but if this is not possible, other land may be used providing it falls within the same local authority.
This planning policy clearly creates an opportunity for farmers and landowners. There could be an increasing demand to sell or lease areas of land to developers, who can then use them to create the biodiversity units required under their planning permission. This will be a particularly attractive option if there are areas of land which are unproductive, unprofitable or difficult to access. Turning these ‘problem fields’ into wildflower meadows, woodlands or wetlands could provide a guaranteed income stream for a 30-year period whilst also saving time and costs, when compared to using these areas for agriculture where this is no longer profitable in a post-subsidy environment. In addition, if woodland is created on the land which is leased to a developer, the landowner may also be eligible to create and sell Woodland Carbon Units, adding a further revenue stream.
8 | SCRUTTON BLAND | AGRICULTURE AND FARMING
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