As Scotland plans for net zero carbon emissions by 2045, the planning sector has been handed the keys to drive key aspects of sustainability forward in the coming years.
The recent Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 has introduced a new requirement to consider how the planning and development process can best contribute to the enhancement of Scotland’s biodiversity. The next National Planning Framework (NPF4) will set out a new plan for Scotland to 2050 detailing how this can happen in practice. Offering a glimpse of what NPF4 may contain, a position statement from the Scottish Government was released in November 2020 that looked ahead to the publication of NPF4. One of the main opportunities it identified was around ‘securing positive effects for biodiversity from development'.
This high-level aim demonstrates Holyrood’s commitment to protecting, restoring and encouraging biodiversity while delivering wider benefits. A recent Scottish Government report, written by NatureScot, sets out approaches and options that could be taken to 'support the delivery of the new statutory requirement for NPF outcome to secure positive effects for biodiversity'.
Biodiveristy net gain (BNG) is not yet a term widely used north of the border. In England, however, BNG has been a part of planning policy for a couple of years through the National Planning Policy Framework. That being said only a handful local authorities have adopted policies or consider BNG when determining applications.
However, the Environment Bill is set to make it a statutory requirement that new development demonstrates that biodiversity will be enhanced by at least 10 per cent as a result of development. How can it do this? Well, assuming it gets Royal Assent south of the border, secondary legislation will require all new development to be able to demonstrate at least a 10 per cent increase in biodiversity and without this planning permission will not be granted.
There is currently debate and uncertainty around how off-site mitigation will be delivered or if contributions in lieu of BNG can be made through Section 106 agreements. This could present opportunities for landowners to provide BNG units from donor sites and be compensated for doing so.
The English commitment to BNG does seem likely to offer a template for the Scottish planning and development sector, providing us with an opportunity to see how the system beds in. Indeed, some local authorities, including Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeenshire Council and Scottish Borders Council, have started to take action on this approach through their planning guidance.
Incorporating BNG into new planning policy seems like a sensible way to deliver on the national commitment to halt the decline in biodiversity. The discussions around the subject in the NPF4 Position Statement and within the NatureScot report are to be welcomed, and it is anticipated that BNG will be mandated in Scotland over the next few years, as the NPF4 progresses through parliament.
So how will this affect those looking to deliver development in Scotland? Crucially, BNG doesn’t need to happen in situ on the development site and this means that linking up developers with those in control of natural assets elsewhere could become an important activity. Indeed Savills dedicated Natural Capital team in Scotland is facilitating partnerships between landowners and investors to do just that: the vast abundance of semi-natural habitats and environments across Scotland provide significant opportunities for landowners to offer the use of their land to developers to allow for BNG offsetting for habitat creation and enhancement.
Aside from any likely future policy requirements, most developers will recognise that BNG can be good for business and will help meet their corporate environmental responsibilities, while also helping to achieve national targets. It therefore seems prudent that both developers and landowners start to consider respectively what they might need to do – and what they might be in a position to offer – in order to actively help address the global challenge of biodiversity loss in line with new planning policies coming into force in Scotland.
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