From improved comfort and health to smart technologies, better air quality, lower energy bills, and greater energy security, the transition to net zero offers the unmissable chance to deliver even better homes for people and the environment alike. And all of this whilst potentially kickstarting a material economic opportunity for the UK.

Focus areas for the next quarter

How BNG interacts with other National Planning Policies: This is a continued action  requesting examples of where compatibility issues have been experienced with other national nature policies and BNG.

Communications strategy: A small working group is being set up to develop a shared comms plan to disseminate the existing and emerging information and guidance to support the implementation of BNG.

Offsite Market Implementation Group. Terms of Reference have been agreed.

Working group on small sites. This is focussed on collecting case studies of where challenges are faced and also where BNG has worked well, and knowledge can be shared within the SME community to support others. Please get in touch if you are an SME, have case studies to share, and would like to be a part of this group.

Consistency in baseline surveys. This set of actions has been progressing since the first BNG implementation board meeting. The purpose is to determine where additional guidance and support can be provided in the baseline assessment. This work is feeding into CIEEM’s training programme and the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) work in support of Local Authorities.

BNG Nature Tech Implementation Group. Terms of Reference have been agreed.

BNG and phased Development. A task and finish group will make proposals for phased developments.

Planning Policy Guidance. A small group will be set up to review the clarity and wording of the PPG to suggest where clarification could be provided by government to help with the Implementation of BNG.

How BNG fits with other policies

The meeting discussed alignment of BNG with other nature and planning policies, including the Nature Restoration Fund, Planning and Infrastructure Bill, Local Nature Recovery Strategies and Local Plans.

The common theme for all of them is the need for clarity and certainty of these policies and how they are to interact with BNG. This is both the policies themselves but also a communications action to ensure the government's intention is communicated widely and clearly.