Biodiversity: Property Development

(asked on 24th June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what safeguards he plans to put in place to ensure that the exemption of development orders, brownfield sites and the power to exempt any other developments from biodiversity net gain does not lead to a significant reduction in the number of developments required to deliver biodiversity gain.


Answered by
Rebecca Pow Portrait
Rebecca Pow
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 3rd July 2020

As stated in the Government response to the net gain consultation, the Government will not introduce broad exemptions from delivering biodiversity net gain, beyond those exemptions already proposed for permitted development and householder applications such as extensions. The Government will instead introduce narrow exemptions for the most constrained types of development.

Permitted development rights play a vital role in freeing up local planning authorities to deal with planning applications that matter to local communities and have a wider social, economic and environmental impact. Whilst the biodiversity net gain provisions are not applicable to development undertaken through rights granted under the General Permitted Development Order, they are applicable to development permitted by local development orders and neighbourhood development orders.

The extent to which any exemption reduces the positive outcomes of this policy for wildlife and communities will remain an important consideration during the development of secondary legislation. Any further details on suggested exemptions will be subject to further engagement and consultation with stakeholders before implementation.

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