Agenda item

The Planning and Policy Implementation Manager introduced the report which provided an update on the introduction of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and the status of the Welwyn Hatfield Biodiversity Net Gain Guidance Note 2023. BNG was a way of creating and improving biodiversity by requiring developments to have a positive impact net gain on biodiversity. A BNG guidance note had been reported to CPPP previously and was endorsed by Cabinet in September 2023. At that time, the Local Plan had not yet been adopted and secondary legislation and government guidance was awaited to clarify how the requirement for BNG would be applied in practice. BNG is now a mandatory requirement for qualifying development in England and there is now an extensive collection of national guidance and tools on its implementation. Mandatory BNG now takes precedence over local policy and therefore part of the local plan policy had been superseded by the statutory framework. National guidance stated that plan makers did not need to duplicate the detailed provisions of the statutory framework and it would be inappropriate for plans and supplementary planning documents to include policies or guidance that were incompatible with the framework. Consequently, the Welwyn Hatfield BNG was not now considered necessary in decision making for planning applications. As part of the Local Plan review, consideration would be given as to how the statutory framework could be complemented. Any percentage higher than 10% must be evidenced, justified and capable of being implemented and this could be explored as part of the Local Plan review.    

A member asked why the timetable for mandatory BNG had been delayed as referenced in paragraph 3.7 of the report. Officers noted this had been a significant change for the development industry and were unsure about the reasons for the national delay.

A member referenced paragraph 3.11 of the report and asked what developments would be exempt. Officers advised examples would be householder planning applications, ie smaller scale developments where this would be an unreasonable burden to add.

A member noted the report said a 10% gain per large development was needed and asked how that would be achieved. Officers explained that before a site was to be redeveloped, developers would need to establish that the baseline biodiversity situation at the start was over 10%; this was calculated through a government-designed metric with different levels of gain being related to different types of habitats. The member asked if that meant in another ten years there would be more biodiversity than now, and officers confirmed that was the objective.

A member commented on the fact that the report said there were no direct financial implications. Officers confirmed the burden of this was on the developer.

A member commented that this seemed like a subject the Climate Biodiversity Cabinet Panel (CBCP) would be interested in. Officers agreed that there would potentially be an opportunity for involving CBCP via the review of the Local Plan; the report was under consideration at this meeting because the Council’s interim guidance was no longer required, having been superseded by national guidance.

The Chair noted that under the review of the Local Plan, there was potential scope for a higher BNG percentage than the national policy and wondered if this could be open to challenge. Officers said this could be challenged via the Local Plan process; if the Council wanted to introduce a higher percentage, developers could make representations during the consultation process. Responding to a query about whether the Local Plan could be designed to have a justification of more than 10%, officers said this was the case and cited the example of another local authority which was seeking to introduce a 20% requirement.  

RESOLVED

CPPP:

a)    Noted introduction of mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain and recommend to Cabinet that the Welwyn Hatfield BNG Guidance Note should no longer be a material consideration in decision making where a biodiversity net gain requirement applies; and  

b)    Agreed for the decision to be taken by the Executive Member using their delegated powers under paragraph 18.1 (b) of the Cabinet procedure rules.