Stroud’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.

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

Stroud is part of the Gloucestershire Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Information can be found here.

Specific BNG Requirements are set out in Policy 6.49 of the Local Plan (drafted 2021).

Mechanisms for delivering Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) can be on site, off site, in full or combination. Onsite can be delivered using habitat creation/enhancement via landscaping/green infrastructure. Offsite can be delivered through habitat creation/enhancement on land holdings or via habitat banks. The mitigation hierarchy is also applied and some irreplaceable habitats such as ancient woodland will not be eligible for offsetting. Existing mechanisms for protecting ecology will remain in place and BNG will not apply at SSSI’s.

See also the BNG Page and the Gloucestershire BNG Page.

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