By John Wimperis, Local Democracy Reporter: New developments in Bath and North East Somerset could soon need to meet some of the strictest environmental rules in the country.
Bath and North East Somerset Council was one of the first local authorities in the country to bring in a 10% biodiversity net gain rule, meaning that anyone applying for planning permission had to increase the nature on their site by 10%. But now that it has been implemented nationwide by the government, the council wants to double the requirement.
It is one of a host of new policies which could be included in the council’s new local plan. The council cabinet member responsible for the plan, Matt McCabe (Bathavon South, Liberal Democrat), told a council scrutiny panel on October 23: “We have been at the cutting edge of local authorities in terms of the climate emergency and we want to stay there.”
The local plan is a hugely important document which will set out the council’s planning policies and where developments should go until 2043. A consultation on the “local plan options document,” which sets out what could be included in the plan, runs until November 14.
Sarah Warren (Bathavon North, Liberal Democrat), the council’s cabinet member for sustainability, added: “We were early adopters of 10% biodiversity net gain in planning policy when we brought through our local plan partial update nearly three years ago now. But the whole rest of the country and the national planning framework has now caught up with us so we’re not leading quite so well in that way.
She said: “What we are currently consulting on is the possibility of requiring 20% biodiversity net gain which again would put us up there in the vanguard of leading councils.” It would put Bath and North East Somerset on a par with Guildford Borough Council, which has already brought in a requirement for a biodiversity net gain of 20%.
Explaining the system, Ms Warren said: “Before a new development takes place, an ecological report gives a score as to what the value of the biodiversity on site is and then you know what you have got to achieve afterwards. And so then, depending on the nature of the site in question, there’s all kinds of things you can do around creating rain gardens, sustainable urban drainage systems, parks, meadows depending on the nature of the site.
“And if your site is very constrained and there is no way to do it on site then, as a developer they could choose […] where an alternative location would be for improving biodiversity or pay into the council’s fund.”
The council cabinet members were speaking at a meeting of Bath and North East Somerset Council’s climate emergency and sustainability scrutiny committee. Chair of the committee Andy Wait (Keynsham East, Liberal Democrat) said he was concerned that doubling the biodiversity requirement could lead to more developers giving up on achieving it on site and looking towards offsetting instead.
He said: “I really support the idea of 20% biodiversity but I am concerned that other parts of the district will become much richer in biodiversity whereas the areas that were rich are becoming poorer because of the extra housing.”
The government has given Bath and North East Somerset Council a mandatory target of building 27,000 houses in the area by 2043. In addition to new planning policies, a major part of the local plan options document is setting out which areas of the district to allocate for new housing in order to meet the target.
The consultation on the local plan options document runs until November 14. Bath and North East Somerset Council is touring the area in a converted 1990 Mr Whippy-style ice cream van to host events about the local plan.
You can respond to the consultation online here: https://bathnesplaces.co.uk/localplan/
Bath Voice and Local Democracy Reporters
The journalists are funded by the BBC as part of its latest Charter commitment, but are employed by regional news organisations. A total of 165 reporters are allocated to news organisations in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland including Bath Voice. These organisations range from television and radio stations to online media companies and established regional newspaper groups. Local Democracy Reporters cover top-tier local authorities, second-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
Bath Voice Monthly Newspaper is distributed free to thousands of homes and some supermarkets – distributed from the first of the month. Harry Mottram is the News Editor
Email him at news@bathvoice.co.uk Bath website: https://bathvoice.co.uk/news/
Bath Facebook: https://tinyurl.com/bdtf2kep Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bath_voice And Bluesky @bathvoicenews.bsky.social And also on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/harrymottram6/
Read the newspaper online at :https://issuu.com/bathvoice
To advertise to thousands of Bathonians call Shaun on 07540 383870 or email him on sales@bathvoice.co.uk