Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) was due to become a mandatory part of the planning system in England in November, but it will now not be introduced this year.
Sue Young, head of land use planning for The Wildlife Trusts, says:
“Attempts to delay or weaken rules for Biodiversity Net Gain would deliver yet another hammer blow for nature from the current UK Government. If properly monitored and enforced, Biodiversity Net Gain could play a significant role in nature recovery, ensuring that all future developments improve and increase habitats for wildlife – ideally by at least 20%. Casting doubt over this commitment would cause uncertainty for developers and could affect the quality of schemes. It would also send yet another clear signal to the electorate that this Government is not taking the nature crisis seriously – despite the seemingly endless loss of wildlife and the dire state of our rivers.”
Matt Buckler, Director of Natural Solutions at Derbyshire Wildlife Trust added:
“At Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, we are disappointed that the government is delaying the environmental laws associated with mandatory BNG which were expected for November.
“Following on from the recent comments about nutrient neutrality, we are concerned that the Government is taking a short-term view of nature which could cause unnecessary damage. We know that access to nature is critical to health and wellbeing, homes are improved by being close to nature, and people really want their rivers to be clean, so that they can swim and fish in them. Nature provides all these benefits to people and its worrying to see it being blamed for a lack of progress on providing homes for people.
“Despite the delay, the government has stated it is still committed to the policy and we’re pleased that they’ve now given a clear timetable for BNG providers, local planning authorities and developers. It’s great to see that under the updated timetable, developers in England will be required to deliver a minimum 10% measurable Biodiversity Net Gain from January 2024 onwards.
"With this in mind, we would urge Local Planning Authorities to continue implementing BNG as part of good planning policy and decision-making, and to use this time to keep preparing for mandatory BNG, establishing quality habitat banks and working with stakeholders to deliver smoother implementation in 2024.”
Update:
This article has been updated on Thursday 28th September to reflect the announcement from Defra on the evening of Wednesday 27th September.