Biodiversity Net Gain
This year the government published the summary of their responses to the Biodiversity Net Gain policy, one such announcement was to mandate net gains for biodiversity in the Environment Bill, therefore, putting the environment at the centre of future policy making. The Environment Bill’s aim will be to make sure we have a cleaner, greener and more resilient country for the next generation.
Biodiversity net gain requires developers to ensure habitats for wildlife are enhanced and left in a measurably better state than they were pre-development. Therefore, they must assess the type of habitat and its condition before submitting development plans and then demonstrate how they are improving biodiversity. Examples of such improvements could be through the creation of green corridors, planting more trees or forming local nature spaces.
The government response sets out how we will work to bring this into force, although BREXIT seems to have slowed progression.