Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) Delay
Today's BBC report suggests the Government is poised to announce a delay in implementing mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain laws in England. Our Head of Ecology, Dominic Woodfield, offers his views on this prospect below, emphasising that BNG transcends mere policy; it is an essential step in securing our planet's future, and good for our economy. Delve into Dominic's perspective by reading his thought-provoking viewpoint.
“Uncertainty and backsliding are the enemies of a stable economy. And that goes for the green economy that we must, absolutely must, transition to if we are going to prevent catastrophic climate change, the collapse of ecosystems and the impoverishment of human society.
The Government’s recent decisions on environmental policy are as starkly misaligned with a prosperous future as that.
Everyone who is anyone in the development, planning, and environmental sectors has got their heads around biodiversity net gain over the last two years. Countless hours of work have gone in to ensuring all actors were prepared for it to become mandatory this November. Recent weeks and months have seen a rash of job adverts as planning authorities attempt to secure the staff needed to implement mandatory net gain. Developers, too, have employed in-house BNG staff and some have purchased or signed long-term options on landbanks for BNG delivery, to future-proof their business model.
Of course, the most backward-looking elements of the development sector have lobbied hard for delay or for a watering down of requirements, but the concessions on smaller schemes and extended rollout for national infrastructure projects seemed to mark a point where all felt they could now knuckle down, look forward and focus on delivery. Everyone except the Government it seems.
Even more than its attempt to scrap nutrient neutrality, this decision by the Sunak administration draws a dividing line that says biodiversity conservation is no longer to be considered as integral to prosperity. It abandons the principles of sustainable use of land and resources. And it pulls the rug from under the feet of a nascent industry that will help speed housing delivery and bring economic prosperity and environmental improvements to deprived and marginal rural areas and their communities.
What the Government appears not to understand is that BNG is already a part of mainstream planning in most of the country. Forward-thinking planning authorities have adopted policies that require quantified net gain for planning permission, even in advance of 10% becoming mandatory. Hence the growing market that Biofarm operates within is no less relevant, necessary, and active than it was yesterday.
This is why Biofarm will continue to offer a solutions-based service to LPAs and developers to help them deliver biodiversity net gain.