Here we speak with Alice Davidson, Group Senior Planning Manger at Vistry Group about todays implementation of mandatory biodiversity net gain (BNG) for smaller sites, coinciding with the launch of our BNG Online - in partnership with the Planning Advisory Service.

I am delighted to be collaborating through the Future Homes Hub with Local Planning Authorities, Natural England, the Planning Advisory Service and other house builders, to input to a project collating essential biodiversity net gain (BNG) guidance, best practice and resources - all in one place. 

‘BNG online’ is a fantastic resource that will be helpful for anyone needing to consider BNG. The version launching today is an initial ‘beta’ version and therefore thoughts and questions are welcomed. 

The aim of BNG online is to support everyone in the sector who will be impacted by BNG, but in particular to support Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) and SMEs that may not otherwise have the resources to pull together the relevant information. There are so many different stages of the development process that need to consider BNG, and ‘BNG online’ sets out what a developer or an LPA needs to do at each stage.

It is so important to consider BNG at the very earliest stage to understand the impact that it might have on developing the site and what opportunities it provides. BNG can be delivered on or off-site and there are different considerations depending upon which option is selected. ‘BNG online’ seeks to clearly set out what the requirements are and to provide helpful best practice examples and templates. As a developer working across the country, delivering much needed new homes, promoting best practice sharing between LPAs and, hopefully, consistency in LPA approaches is critically important. 

As a responsible housebuilder, creating places people love is at the heart of what we do at Vistry and we see the benefits that BNG offers, including enhanced open space and extra habitat creation. Our preference will always be to deliver BNG on site - where possible - and our bigger housebuilding projects offer opportunities to deliver these enhancements at significant scale.

Working as part of the team to prepare the content for BNG online has been an invaluable process as it has helped to bring together differing perspectives in terms of BNG and how different outcomes and objectives can be delivered. It has also been really important to me to forge these relationships across the sector. At Vistry our partnerships model is fundamental to our approach and through this we bring together a range of stakeholders including partners, investors, landowners, housing associations, government bodies, local authorities and the community. Collaboration with the public, private and third sector is an essential part of this approach and therefore projects such as the ‘BNG online’ project provide invaluable insight and connection. 

Visit BNG Online.

Read the PAS blog on smaller sites and BNG Online launch.

Visit Defra's BNG page.