Congratulations! You've finished your BGP and its available for download on your project page. There will be three files for you to download:
Your Biodiversity Gain Plan, as a PDF
Your Small Site Metric, as an Excel file
Your site's Maps, as a PDF
Under the new Biodiversity Net Gain rules, your Excel file and your maps will be required early in the planning process (potentially at initial application). At the planning application stage, you just need to demonstrate that you have undertaken a biodiversity assessment of your site and produced metric. You will need to provide completed documents - which are approved by the LPA - to commence development.
How to download your documents
You can download the documents on the main menu. When you have completed the journey, the buttons will light up in yellow. You only need to press these buttons once, and then the report will be generated and sent to you via email. Please note that the metric may take a few minutes to be generated and sent to you.
What to do with the finished documents
First, please check to make sure that the documents fully comply with the rules.
IMPORTANT
While every step is taken to ensure that the metric fully complies with the rules, we strongly recommend you check the metric sheet to ensure that there are no errors. This can be done easily by using this tool (it should take less than 5 minutes).
Your Biodiversity Gain Plan is generally not required as part of your initial application (though this may vary). However, it is the key legal document (when accompanied by your Metric Excel file), that your LPA will sign off on as showing you have met the "biodiversity gain objective" as specified in the Environment Act. Natural England has made clear that it has standards it expects applications to meet.
Completing the Planning Portal application
If you are submitting your application via the Planning Portal, you will need to fill in the following information:
Please provide the pre-development biodiversity value of onsite habitats on the date of calculation | Please use the figure(s) in box 6.3 of your Biodiversity Gain Plan (BGP) |
Please provide the date the onsite pre-development biodiversity value was calculated | Please use the figure in box 3.8 of your Biodiversity Gain Plan (BGP) |
If an earlier date, to the date of the planning application, has been used, please provide details why this date has been used | Please enter in the data directly. |
When was the version of the biodiversity metric used published? | This can be found on the first page of the Excel sheet |
Has there been any loss (or degradation) of any onsite habitat(s), resulting from activities carried out before the date the onsite pre-development biodiversity value was calculated. Either:
| Please enter in the data directly. |
Does the development site have irreplaceable habitats (corresponding to the descriptions in column 1 of [Schedule to the Biodiversity Gain Requirements (Irreplaceable Habitat) Regulations (2023)]) which are: i. on land to which the application relates; and ii. exist on the date of the application for planning permission, (or an earlier agreed date) | The answer to this will be no, as the Joe's Blooms tool cannot be used if there are irreplaceable habitats on the site. |
Uploading the Metric Sheet
You will need to upload your Excel file to the right box. LPAs cannot accept pdf version of the Excel sheet, and you need to make sure that you upload the right type of Excel file.
How to upload the Excel sheet
Make sure that you have the file as Excel (.xlsx) and it has not been converted into a Numbers file or another type of file. You can click and drag the Excel file from the email you receive the Excel sheet on to make this easier.
On the Planning Portal go to the Add plans and documents section.
3. Drag the Excel file into the Add Supporting Documents section.
4. You will be invited to set out the document type and select the Biodiversity Metric Calculation Tool.
