BNG / de minimis exemption / small site metric sm

[Fi and J]

Hi all 

 

I am receiving conflicting info and your experience would be greatly appreciated. 
 

my planning consultant says SSM is not usually needed for very small infill sites with crazy paving and no special plants - a plan of the site with calculations showing <25m2 / <5m linear hedge etc normally suffices and ground level calculations are specified so ivy on a wall or roof is not counted. 
 

the council planners say ivy on wall / roof must be counted. My planning consultant is trying to talk them round. 
 

a couple of ecologists - who we lined up in case the council demand full survey - say the wall / roof does count and offsetting would be needed. An SSM competent person said the ground-level specifier has no basis in guidance. 
 

I believe that putting in an inaccurate exemption is a legal offence of some kind, I don’t want to break any rules but it’s tough to know who to trust right? I don’t understand plants, planning or this legislation.
 

does anyone have experience of this? Is my planning consultant right - SSM is not usually needed and it’s a legit route to not offer SSM if the council will accept it? Are the ecologists just trying to sell offsetting? Or are they more knowledgeable about BNG than my planning consultant. Should I insist on offering an SSM just to make sure my planner isn’t bluffing their knowledge of this new legislation? 
 

the council have declined to validate my planning application for a month with much to and fro and little consensus. 
 

I need a big mortgage so self build exemption route - with subsequent agreement/condition with LA to ensure I’m a real self builder not a particularly inept developer - would exclude many / most lenders. 
 

thank you in advance. 

 

 

[LnP]

In a nutshell:

• Consideration of biodiversity is required for all developments, with the possibility that you might have to demonstrate how you will achieve a net gain.
• The small sites biodiversity metric tool allows the calculation of biodiversity value for the purpose of BNG for small developments.
• Yours is a small development, so if you do need to do an assessment, you will use the SSM.
• There are two exemptions: the de minimis one you mentioned and the one for self builders.
• The obligations required by some LPAs to successfully claim the self build exemption are onerous.
• If you're looking to claim the de minimis exemption, your best route is to get an ecologist to provide an assessment supporting your claim. The LPA are unlikely to challenge an assessment by a competent ecologist. It cuts short all the back and forth.
• Some ecologists are not only providing ecology services but also operating BNG credit banks and will sell you the credits their assessment determines you need. It's clearly a conflict of interest, so find one who isn't doing that. Perhaps your planning consultant can recommend somebody. Otherwise phone round a few until you find one who sounds sympathetic. The assessment should only cost ~£300,
• Do some gardening before you get the assessment done ....

My planning consultant thinks the days of BNG are numbered because of the problems it's causing, especially given the government's house building targets.

Maybe we do have a problem with a loss of biodiversity, but there must be better ways to tackle it. Insofar as the concern is about what's going on in our gardens, I read a study recently that the average pet cat kills 22 rodents and small birds a year ....