Government issues response to consultation on biodiversity net gain regulations and implementation

Local planning authorities will get an extra £16.71m from the Government to cope with additional burdens that result from the biodiversity net gain regulations.

This is in addition to the £4.18m already provided last year and has been allocated after responses to a consultation showed “concerns remain in relation to local authority capacity”, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said.

The main burden for councils resulted from demand for additional ecologist and monitoring resources.

Biodiversity net gain was introduced by a part of the Environment Act 2021 that is expected to come into force in November 2023, law firm Browne Jacobson said in comments on the consultation.

It will mean that developers must deliver at least 10% biodiversity net gain and secure habitat enhancement for 30 years after development has been completed.

The Government said it recognised a need for further clarification about how local planning authorities should manage the interaction of biodiversity net gain in the National Planning Policy Framework and local plan policies, and a further consultation would be held on this.

Defra said that following the consultation it would use regulations to make exemptions for areas below a ‘de minimis’ threshold of 25 metres squared - or 5m for linear habitats such as hedgerows - and for householder applications.

There will also be exemptions for small scale self-build and custom housebuilding, defined so that large sites made up of numerous custom plots do not become exempt.

Biodiversity net gain will apply to nationally significant infrastructure projects but only from November 2025, to allow developers time to prepare.

Browne Jacobson partner Ben Standing said the response gave useful information including that small sites will not be required to comply until April 2024, to allow both local planning authorities and developers a longer period to adapt.

Mr Standing said: “A key issue for local planning authorities however will be how quickly this [extra] funding will be made available, and the ability to recruit suitably trained officers.”

Mark Smulian