Biodiversity net gain

Biodiversity is a term given to the variety of living things on our planet. This includes species, habitats and ecosystems.

Biodiversity net gain, also known as BNG, is an approach to planning and land management. It aims to improve biodiversity and leave it in a better state than before.

As part of our commitment to a greener North Somerset, BNG is at the forefront of our planning system. We want habitats across the area to be protected for years to come.

All planning permission granted in England, with a few exceptions, needs to deliver a minimum of 10% BNG. This is outlined in the Environment Act 2021. 

BNG uses a metric created by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra). It measures biodiversity in units. This allows planners and developers to speak the same language and to create a mutual understanding in how development impacts the natural world.

Current registered Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) providers in North Somerset are:

• Belmont Estate (registration number BGS-200225002)

BNG will apply to you if you’re a:

• land manager
• developer
• local planning authority (LPA).

If you’re a land manager

You can get paid by selling biodiversity units.

You must be a land manager with

• land in England
• consent to register land if you’re not the landowner
• a legal agreement for the land you’re registering.

If you’re a developer

You must try to avoid loss of habitat to a piece of land you plan to develop. If you cannot do this, you must create a replacement habitat either on-site or off-site. 

On-site means on the land your development work is on. Off-site is either land you own elsewhere, or land you have bought from a land manager.

You may be able to combine all three options to make up your BNG. You must discuss this with an ecologist, as you will need to prove why you cannot use only on-site BNG delivery, in line with the BNG hierarchy.

As part of applying for planning permission you must meet the national validation requirements which are available on the GOV.UK website - Biodiversity net gain. Please see paragraph: 011 - reference ID: 74-011-20240214.

When to get approval

Once planning permission has been granted there is a deemed Biodiversity Net Gain condition which means that you must obtain approval from us before you start building. 

This means you must provide a Biodiversity Gain plan (details on what this must include can be found in the GOV.UK guidance. This must be approved by us before building commences. 

Government guidance for land managers and developers is available on the GOV.UK website BNG page.

North Somerset Council is looking to offer a credit service. More information will be made available on this page once details of the scheme has been finalised.

What we will need from developers

The Environment Act sets out some requirements for developers. You will need to explain the following in your Biodiversity Gain Plan:

• how you plan to minimise adverse impacts on habitats
• the biodiversity value of the onsite habitat before development
• the biodiversity value of the onsite habitat after development
• the biodiversity value of any replacement habitat created off-site
• any statutory biodiversity credits purchased
• any further requirements to be set out in legislation that may follow

You will also need to provide the following:

• shapefiles of all on-site and off-site BNG baseline and proposed habitats
• evidence that any offsite BNG units purchased are from sites that are registered with the Natural England BNG Register

For more information on our requirements from a Biodiversity Gain Plan, please see section 7.6 of our Biodiversity SPD.

Contact us

To register your interest for further information about our BNG scheme, please email us at biodiversity@n-somerset.gov.uk.

More information