Agenda item

To receive an update on what the Council are doing to achieve bio-diversity net gain.

David Thompson, Assistant Director of Planning

The Assistant Director of Planning presented a report to inform Members of the action that the Council was taking to comply with its responsibilities under the Environment Act 2021 to further the general biodiversity objective.

The report set out the Council’s steps to enhance biodiversity in a report which was approved at Cabinet in January 2024. These steps were:

1.   Assess the current state of biodiversity in the District.

2.   Produce a Strategic district-wide Action Plan relating to Biodiversity.

3.   Review viability of delivering 10% net gain on allocated sites that do not have an extant planning permission.

4.   Consider a ‘call for sites’ for land available in the district for net gain

‘offsetting’.

5.   Establish a ‘bank’ of land for biodiversity enhancement where 10% net gain

is not possible on a development sites (both Council assets and privately

owned land).                                                                    

6.   Participate in the development of the Derbyshire Local Nature Recovery

Strategy (LNRS).

7.   Consider biodiversity enhancement policies as part of the Local Plan

Review.

The Committee welcomed Hollie Fisher from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust to explain the Trust’s role in the assessment of the Council and other elements that the Trust was involved in, with specific relation to the bio-diversity net gain action plan.

Hollie Fisher explained that Derbyshire Wildlife Trust were a charity that gave expert climate change advice to local authorities when required, with more recent advice being on bio-diversity net gain.

Members enquired if the DWT engaged with schools. Hollie Fisher responded that DWT’s Engagement Teams worked with a number of age ranges.

The Committee asked if DWT would set a baseline for the District relating to the call for sites. Hollie Fisher explained that DWT would be supportive of the setting of baselines and these would be based on current data.

Members discussed the transparency of the call for sites process. The Assistant Director of Planning explained that the call for sites would be advertised, and the aim was to include Council owned land within this process (via Estates and Streetscene).

The Committee deliberated the role of Parish Councils in the process. The Assistant Director of Planning advised that Parish Council engagement was an element that officers needed to consider.

Members asked if there was a mechanism in place to deal with housing developers. The Assistant Director of Planning confirmed there was, and many developers were accepting of the requirements. In addition, the Council built bio-diversity into Section 106 Agreements, particularly for large developments.

There was some discussion about the role of agricultural land in the process of delivering Biodiversity Net Gain, and how the credit scheme for offsetting the impact of development sites operated.

The Chair asked why the Council was not aiming for a 20% uplift rather than the 10% uplift that had been stated.  The Committee were advised that the 10% was a starting point, and once further work had been undertaken it may be feasible to increase this to 20%, but viability considerations were key to this. 

Members asked how biodiversity net loss was determined. Hollie Fisher explained that it was calculated by using a habitat survey and assessed by a metric set by Central Government.

Members referred to a priority set out in the Climate Change Strategy which stated “develop a wild planting policy for parks and public open space areas where appropriate” and agreed that the Assistant Director of Streetscene should be invited to a future Committee meeting to explain this development in detail.

Members also agreed that a representative from Derbyshire Wildlife Trust should be invited again once the next step of the assessment was competed in a year.

RESOLVED – That the Committee noted the report.