Introduction of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain postponed until 2024
Earlier this week the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) announced the introduction of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) will be postponed until January 2024.
The scheme, introduced as part of the Environment Act 2021 will now apply to new housing, infrastructure and commercial developments from January 2024 and minor developments from April 2024. Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects will be included from 2025.
Defra has confirmed it will publish additional guidance by the end of November 2023, for aspects of BNG including:
- the biodiversity metric
- the biodiversity gain plan template
- the Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan template
- a package of Biodiversity Net Gain guidance that sets out further advice for landowners, developers, and Local Planning Authorities around their role and responsibilities in delivering mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain
Defra hopes these materials will ensure developers and planning authorities have access to the necessary tools and information to effectively implement BNG from January 2024.
This announcement from Defra follows new research published by the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) earlier this month that suggests planning professionals (who, together with ecologists, will play a significant role in assessing the merit of biodiversity net gain proposals) are struggling to prepare for the new regime.
An ongoing survey of RTPI members revealed:
- 61% of public sector planners cannot confirm they’ll have dedicated BNG resource and ecological expertise in-house in place by November.
- 79% of public sector planners believe that BNG practice would be improved with confirmation of additional ‘skills and staff’
- 78% of public sector planners believe that BNG practice would be improved with additional ‘guidance, advice and support’
- 54% of planners across the public and private sector believe that BNG practice would be improved by giving ‘case studies of best practice’
The RTPI also discovered public and private sector planners report having extremely low levels of confidence in the practical requirements of BNG, including core aspects of the scheme such as:
- identifying BNG receptor sites
- interpreting the robustness of ecological reports and BNG proposals
- using the biodiversity metric
- negotiating with landowners over site provision
The Association will update members when additional guidance material is released in November 2023.
Further reading:
Defra Press Release: Biodiversity Net Gain moves step closer with timetable set out
BALI news article: Biodiversity Net Gain: What does it mean for the landscape industry?