Biodiversity Net Gain starts with an initial assessment of the land to be developed and establishment of the baseline habitat conditions. Once this is complete, work begins to design and agree Net Gain measures to be implemented in order to reach the 10% ‘Net Gain’ requirement. BNG uses an Excel Metric produced by Natural England which uses precise measurements in order to formulate existing and proposed ‘habitat units’. These habitat units are then used to calculate net losses and net gains, depending on the development and enhancement proposals.
The BNG system will become a mandatory part of any planning application in 2023 but many developers are choosing to adopt the system prematurely in order to demonstrate the pursuit of high industry standards.