Biodiversity Net Gain - A Guide to the New Planning Obligation in England

Introduction

The Environment Bill is now being considered by Parliament. Part 6 of the Bill introduces new obligations on developers to secure 10% environmental - or biodiversity - net gain on development sites. This will involve a baseline assessment using a new assessment developed by Defra (Dept of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), the Defra Biodiversity Metric 2.0.

Planning applications will therefore need to include a Biodiversity Plan showing the number of biodiversity units on site before development, and the number of biodiversity units which will be achieved after development. The number of biodiversity units after development will have to be at least 10% higher. These environmental improvements will have to be secured for at least 30 years.

Part 7 of the Bill introduces Conservation Covenants, a new form of legal agreement binding future landowners and occupiers. These will be one of the legal tools to secure biodiversity gains for the minimum 30-year period. Planning conditions and obligations will also seek to secure the gains.

This live broadcast session will review these issues for lawyers, surveyors, planners and developers, aiming to provide a practical insight into the working of the new measures.

What You Will Learn

This live and interactive session will cover the following:

• Environment Bill overview
• Environment Bill provisions on biodiversity gain
• Emerging regulations
• Biodiversity register
• Purchase of biodiversity credits - an expensive alternative
• Sourcing suitable offsite offsets
• Conservation covenants
• Defra biodiversity metric and its application

Recording of live sessions: Soon after the Learn Live session has taken place you will be able to go back and access the recording - should you wish to revisit the material discussed.