General Advice
Calderdale'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
Calderdale's pre-application advice service can be found here
Local Nature Recovery Strategy
Calderdale is part of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority Local Nature Recovery Strategy. Information can be found here.
Specific Requirements
Specific BNG requirements are set out in the local list
BNG is required for all “Type A” applications
All planning applications (except Householder) affecting a
Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Local Wildlife Site.
Wildlife Habitat Network.
You can view where these are in Calderdale on the biodiversity and geodiversity map.
Semi-natural habitat (all land except previously developed land that has not re-vegetated) or where protected species or Priority Species could be affected.
All major applications.
If the Local Planning Authority becomes aware that an application site falls into Category 4 as detailed above after an application has been validated, it is likely that there will be a requirement to submit the information detailed below, before your application can be determined. This may cause a delay.
All Type ‘A’ applications will need to submit an Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) (unless a Preliminary Ecological Assessment Report (PEAR) concludes that there will be negligible ecological impacts).
The EcIA must comply with and be informed by surveys which comply with the Guidelines for Ecological Impact Assessment (EcIA) | CIEEM.
The EcIA should include a Biodiversity Net Gain assessment, informed by a measurable Biodiversity Net Gain calculation using the latest Defra biodiversity metric and detailed assessments of all the habitats on the site and their condition before and after the proposed development. There will be a requirement for at least 10% Biodiversity Net Gain.
Kind regards,
Please note that the resources on this page are purely advisory. Documents set out may be out of date. You should engage with the LPA as soon as possible to ensure local requirements are incorporated into your BNG proposals.
Last updated: May 2024