Harrow’s BNG level is set at 20%.

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.

Harrow’s pre-application advice service can be found here.

Harrow is part of the Greater London Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Information can be found here.

Specific BNG requirements are set out in Policy 7.3.4-6 of the Local Plan (current draft).

7.3.4 To ensure that biodiversity degradation in Harrow is reversed, the council has set a biodiversity net gain target of a minimum 20% increase in habitat value for wildlife compared with the pre-development baseline. This will be calculated using an appropriate Biodiversity Metric. Biodiversity net gain should be fully integrated into a design-led approach with consideration given to the site context and wider landscape setting.

7.3.5 Development proposals must submit an ecological assessment which identifies biodiversity interests within and surrounding the development site and assess any potential impacts. Proposals should demonstrate how the development will respond positively to identified biodiversity interests. The scale of development will determine the level of detail required in the assessment. The NPPF sets out principles for determining planning applications where there is potential harm to biodiversity, as does the London Plan.

7.3.6 Biodiversity net gain should be secured and maintained for as long as the development exists. Maintenance payments for off-site biodiversity units should cover a minimum of 30 years. Planning conditions and/or legal agreements may be used to secure Management Plans where they are considered necessary to support nature conservation. Where a development is unable to achieve the appropriate level of net gain, an offsite contribution equivalent to the percentage of deficit will be agreed with the Council.

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