General Advice
Local validation requirements here
West Berkshire’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.
Pre-Application Advice Service
West Berkshire’s pre-application advice service can be found here.
Local Nature Recovery Strategy
West Berkshire is part of the Berkshire Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Information can be found here.
Specific Requirements
Specific BNG Requirements are set out in Policy CS17 of the Core Strategy (adopted July 2012).
In order to conserve and enhance the environmental capacity of the District, all new development should maximise opportunities to achieve net gains in biodiversity and geodiversity in accordance with the Berkshire Biodiversity Action Plan and the Berkshire Local Geodiversity Action Plan. Opportunities will be taken to create links between natural habitats and, in particular, strategic opportunities for biodiversity improvement will be actively pursued within the Biodiversity Opportunity Areas identified on the Proposals Map in accordance with the Berkshire Biodiversity Action Plan.
Strategic Significance
N/A