Brighton and Hove’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.

Brighton and Hove’s pre-application advice service can be foundhere.

Brighton and Hove is part of the East Sussex and Brighton & Hove Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Information can be found here.

Specific BNG requirements are set out in the BNG Interim Advice Note (adopted October 2022).

BNG needs to be considered at the very start of the design process with baseline habitat surveys informing the design in accordance with the mitigation hierarchy. Further details on the mitigation hierarchy, BNG and when to consider BNG can be found in Sections 5 and 7 of SPD11.

Government consultation confirms that BNG should be achieved in a way that is consistent with the mitigation hierarchy. BNG should therefore be provided on-site in the first instance and be designed appropriately for the development and local situation. Government guidance is expected to clarify options for what BNG will look like for urban sites or those sites with a very low baseline. Ahead of mandatory requirements, the priority in Brighton & Hove will be for onsite BNG.

For further information see the BNG Strategic Planning Document. See also the BNG Guide.

Specific Strategic Significance requirements are set out in the BNG Interim Advice Note (adopted October 2022).

The Metric includes a section on strategic significance. Strategic significance is whether the location of each habitat parcel is identified in a local plan or other strategic document as an important area for biodiversity. Strategic documents for biodiversity often include planning documents such as supplementary planning documents and local plans, or within local nature recovery strategies, biodiversity opportunity areas and biodiversity action plans. Prior to the production and adoption of a Local Nature Recovery Strategy, the following are considered to be “high” strategic significance in Brighton & Hove:

• Special Areas of Conservation

• Sites of Special Scientific Interest

• Local Nature Reserves

• Local Wildlife Sites

• Biodiversity Opportunity Areas