Wyre’s BNG level is set at 10%.

The NPPF states: "applicants are encouraged to consider biodiversity net gain early in the development process and factor it into site selection and design. Where appropriate, they should discuss the biodiversity net gain requirements for their development upfront with the relevant local planning authority utilising any pre-application advice services offered by them. This could help establish whether development proposals would be subject to biodiversity net gain and, if they are, enable feedback on the proposed strategy for achieving the biodiversity gain objective and consideration of the Biodiversity Gain Hierarchy to inform the design of the proposals"

Please note, If you work for the LPA and wish to add additional information, please inform the Joe's Blooms team here.

Wyre’s pre-application advice service can be foundhere.

Wyre is part of the Lancashire Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Information can be foundhere.

BNG requirements are set out in the Biodiversity Guide for Applicants (Adopted May 2024).

If your development-type is not specifically exempted, then you need to provide a minimum 10% biodiversity net gain. This is a legal requirement. BNG is applied to approved planning applications by way of a pre-commencement condition. Development must not commence until the pre-commencement condition has been discharged by the local planning authority.

See also theLocal Plan (adopted 26 January 2023).

Strategic Significance Requirements are set out in the Biodiversity Guide for Applicants on Page 29.

Both the statutory metric and SSM scoring system includes a consideration of the extent to which the site in question (this may be the development site or the location of the off-site provision, or both) is strategically significant. The statutory metric scores strategic significance as follows, with the greater the significance the higher the score (biodiversity value):

• High strategic significance = formally identified in a local strategy.

• Medium strategic significance = Location ecologically desirable but not in local strategy. This category will cease to have effect once the Lancashire Local Nature Recovery (LNRS) has been published.

• Low strategic significance = area/compensation not in local strategy/ no local strategy.