Ashfords' planning team has successfully acted for Tim Hawkins, a landowner in Somerset, to set up a milestone biodiversity net gain (BNG) habitat bank in Somerset.
The Lower Toulton Farm habitat bank will be the first in Somerset Council’s area that is secured by a conservation covenant – a contract entered into with a ‘responsible body’ to secure works proposed by a Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan (HMMP) - under section 117 of the Environment Act 2021, rather than a section 106 agreement with the local planning authority. Ashfords completed the conservation covenant in early December 2024.
The habitat bank will create a significant number of habitat, hedgerow and watercourse units for sale to the market, helping developers to meet the mandatory 10% BNG requirement imposed from 12 February 2024.
An application has been submitted for the project to be added to the Gain Sites Register, administered by Natural England, and it is expected to be fully registered imminently.
Tim Hawkins was advised by Ashfords in relation to legal issues including fulfilling due diligence requirements for the land, negotiating the conservation covenant and applying for its registration on the Gain Sites Register, and by EAD Ecology on all matters of ecology, including completing the statutory biodiversity metric and finalising the HMMP.
David Richardson, partner and head of the planning and infrastructure consenting team, commented: 'Whilst we’re seeing a number of section 106 agreements now being entered into nationwide to create habitat banks, in this case a conservation covenant was a quicker route to market and it has proved an interesting process given that these covenants are still relatively new. The signing of the covenant was a key moment, I hope soon to be followed by the site appearing on the Gain Site Register.'
Ashfords' experienced planning and infrastructure consenting team regularly support clients to evaluate the best means of achieving planning permission across a broad range of project including residential, mixed use, retail, rural, marine and energy.
If your business wishes to purchase biodiversity units or needs advice navigating meeting the mandatory BNG requirement, please contact David Richardson.
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