Minutes:
Nick Harding explained that from November 2023 developers must demonstrate that their scheme will deliver biodiversity net gain of at least 10% which must be maintained for 30 years or more.
He referred members of the forum to the link below which provided a training session which he recommended to all, and he referred members of the forum to the notes of the April meeting which contained other weblinks which show the detail of how the spreadsheet works for both small and large sites.
Biodiversity Metric 3 Training for Planners | Local Government Association
Tim Slater asked whether it included all developments excluding householders and is it for major applications only. Nick Harding explained that it is for all developments excluding minor development and it also includes a standalone single property. Tim slater asked whether it was going to be a validation requirement or a determination requirement as in his view it is going to mean a lot of extra work which will need to be undertaken. Nick Harding explained that the legislation looks as though it will be a conditional or Section 106 requirement to sign up to the 10% biodiversity net gain and he added that when considering large developments, it will be difficult to simply add a condition on an application for 10% biodiversity to be achieved when there is no context at all with regards to what the percentage actually relates to and how achievable it is. He added that it is something that will need to be considered as to how it will fit into the application process in terms of content of the submission from a validation perspective and determination perspective.
Tim Slater expressed the view that it will be a difficult subject to explain to clients because on a generic outline application there are a large number of questions to answer before the topic of biodiversity net gain. He asked whether the council are pooling contributions and enhancing facilities elsewhere such as country parks and he questioned whether Fenland has any plans to create its own biodiversity pool.
John Maxey stated that very often proposals get varied during the course of the determination process and it may not be possible to identify what 10% biodiversity net gain looks like until the final form of the proposal is known and in his view there needs to be a clear intent for it to be provided at the application stage and an indication on how it needs to be provided. He added that the detail could be something hat has to wait until the final form of the application and then rerun the calculations at that stage to demonstrate that it is meeting 10%.Nick Harding explained that he agrees and added that making the calculation will be challenging, however as a developer or land owner he appreciates that they will want to know what the level of commitment is going to have to be as it is an important consideration. John Maxey stated that it would be sensible to have a requirement for the base line assessment to be submitted with an application, and he stated that as part of an outline application It would have to be a condition as part of the reserved matter that it has to include details of the biodiversity net gain meeting at least 10% and with full applications in his view it may have to be a discharge condition.
Nick Harding stated that in meeting the 10% gain, the condition of the legal agreement will only be satisfied if the number of bio diversity units that are being provided, either on or off site, represents 10% gain of what the site is delivering in its undeveloped state.
Nick Harding explained that the Biodiversity Plan must cover:
• Information about the steps taken / to be taken to minimise the adverse effect the development on the biodiversity of the onsite habitat and any other habitat;
• the pre-development biodiversity value of the onsite habitat.
• the post-development biodiversity value of the onsite habitat.
• any registered offsite biodiversity gain allocated to the development and the biodiversity value of that gain in relation to the development.
• and any biodiversity credits purchased for the development.
• What is the preapplication value ? Biodiversity value of the onsite habitat on the date on which the application was made. This must be calculated in accordance with the biodiversity metric
• If any works undertaken on or after 30 January 2020 that have devalued the site then an adjustment is made add in any lost biodiversity units
• Where the biodiversity gain objective cannot be achieved through onsite habitat enhancements, any shortfall may be met through a "registered offsite biodiversity gain" which is allocated to the development or through the buying of ‘credits’ through a Government scheme.
He added that if a Developer goes in and strips a site, the assessment is based on the pre-development biodiversity value of the onsite habitat, which helps to prevent the stripping of sites in order to get round the problem.
Tim Slater asked how the Local Authority will enforce this and questioned what the comeback is against the biodiversity net gain not having been maintained. Nick Harding stated that in terms of the base date that is set out, the planners are in the hands of the ecologists who do the base line survey and adhering to their code of conduct to accurately portray what the situation was or would have been. He added that there is access to historic mapping an aerial photograph and he expressed the point that it will only reflect part of the history, and there will be situations which come forward where stripping of sites has taken place historically and the assessment does not give a true picture of the worth of the site at the appointed base date.
Nick Harding stated that with regards to enforcement, he would expect that there will be a reliance on planning enforcement to ensure that any conditions are complied with.
He explained that with regards to biodiversity net gain, he is undertaking communication with other local authorities in Cambridgeshire with a view to sharing an Ecologist resource between three or four other councils in order to be able to process the biodiversity net gain data sheets which are going to be submitted as part of the process.
Tim Slater expressed the view that the capacity for an ecologist within the local authority system is going to be stretched and he added that from a resource point of view in his opinion it is going to prove very challenging in terms of resources. Nick Harding agreed that it will be challenging and, in his view, he think it is likely that the councils attention will be focussed on particular scales of development proposal that will merit significant scrutiny and have a lighter touch approach to the smaller developments as that is a practical way forward. Tim Slater stated that he is aware that it does apply to commercial and industrial development but it is a very difficult target to reach given that warehouse is essentially a big box with a car or lorry park with it and therefore unless a significant portion of a site is hived off to offset it, there will be the need to look off site or there would need to be an allocation of 20% more employment land in the Local Plan to provide enough active land to allow it to be offset the additional biodiversity. He expressed the view that it is an ill-thought-out proposal. Nick Harding stated that whilst the concerns and worries are evident, it is not going to stop the proposal from being brought in.
Councillor Mrs Laws asked whether it would be worth considering a partnership approach when looking for ecologists. Nick Harding explained that each local authority was given £10,000 in the last financial year to address the burden of biodiversity and it his understanding that it is a one-off payment and if four authorities got together there would be £40,000 which may cover a one-year appointment for an Ecologist. He added that if that appointment was to act for four authorities, then careful consideration would need to be given as to which applications you would want that person to get involved in. He added that the ongoing salary costs for that position would also need to be considered and that is going to be considered by the Councils management team in due course. Councillor Mrs Laws added that she would have concerns on who would take priority out of the four authorities when dealing with applications. Nick Harding stated that there would not be any prioritisation of one council over another and each council would have to ensure that they received a fair proportion of the officers time.