Biodiversity Net Gain - Call for Habitat Bank Sites

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) is an approach to development that seeks to leave the natural environment in a measurably better state than it was before development occurred.

Introduction

City of Doncaster Council ran a 'call for sites' for 8 weeks from 24 February 2025 to 21 April 2025. The Council will aim to provide feedback to landowners on their proposals and whether the Council would like to work with them as soon as practicably possible. Although the initial deadline has now passed, we are still accepting submissions of land available for potential future habitat banks (see below for how you can continue to keep submitting sites).

During the 'call for sites' the Council wanted to hear from landowners that were interested in delivering Biodiversity Net Gain BNG schemes on their land. The 'call for sites' aimed to understand the level of interest from landowners, land promoters and land managers. Biodiversity units can only be sold once they have been legally secured through either a Section 106 (s106) agreement with a Local Authority, or a Conservation Covenant with a Responsible Body. The call for sites exercise helps us to understand the level of interest locally and allocate resources to support this work.

The Council will use a set of criteria to assess sites that have been put forward. Prioritised sites will then go on to enter negotiations to legally secure the promoted land so that it can be registered on the National Sites Register and the biodiversity units generated, sold to developers.

By legally securing the right Biodiversity Net Gain sites in the right places, the Council will be able to support the delivery of new development in Doncaster, deliver for nature recovery, and maximise wider benefits to South Yorkshire.

Background

In England, BNG became mandatory from 12 February 2024 under Schedule 7A of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as inserted by Schedule 14 of the Environment Act 2021). Developers must deliver a 10% net gain in Biodiversity as an outcome of their development. Where this is not possible to achieve within the development site, they must buy biodiversity units from the open market.

Biodiversity units are a quantified gain in biodiversity generated by creating new or improving existing habitats and then managing them for conservation. Selling biodiversity units on the BNG market is a choice for land managers. It is a potential source of revenue and could fund nature recovery work, both habitat creation or enhancement, on your land. To be allowed to sell biodiversity units, landowners will need to sign a legal agreement that secures the delivery of those units. The legal agreement will set out how you will create, enhance, maintain and monitor the biodiversity of your registered units to deliver off-site biodiversity net gain. It must last for a minimum of 30 years. The Government have published guidance on Selling biodiversity units as a land manager (GOV.UK) and it is recommended that landowners read this in order to understand more.

Submitting a site

If you are still interested in submitting land for consideration as a biodiversity net gain site, then please complete the following Expression of Interest Form and e-mail it to: localplan@doncaster.gov.uk

Expression of Interest Form

Download (45KB - DOCX)

We understand that people may be at different stages in the process of considering whether selling biodiversity units is right for them. We are still interested in hearing from landowners at all stages of the process, from those just starting to explore their options, through to those that have undertaken baseline assessment of their land and have draft habitat management and monitoring plans (HMMPs) developed.

How will sites be assessed and prioritised?

Firstly, sites will be sorted into two tranches based on how far developed the proposals are. Officers will then assess the sites in more detail in order to prioritise Tranche 1 Sites in terms of a potential delivery pipeline, and provide feedback on Tranche 2 sites to support their further development.

Tranche 1 Sites will:

• Demonstrate that the applicant owns or has control of the land.
• Have provided a plan showing the land proposed for inclusion in the habitat bank.
• Have submitted a baseline Biodiversity Metric.
• Have set out the detailed proposals for habitat creation or enhancement on the site.
• Have submitted a 30-year Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan prepared by a suitably qualified ecologist.

Tranche 2 Sites will:

• Demonstrate that the applicant owns or has control of the land.
• Have provided a redline boundary of the land that they are considering using for BNG.
• Have set out broadly the habitat creation or enhancement proposals.

Sites that fall into Tranche 2 will be screened by an officer, and feedback provided based on:

• Is the location and nature of the proposal broadly supported?
• Are there any known constraints with the plans?
• Guidance on if additional types of habitat creation opportunities could be considered.
• Next steps in term of the additional information that would need to be provided for the Council to be able to assess the plans in more detail.

This would be designed with a view to helping landowners decide whether to undertake further work on developing a habitat bank project.

Tranche 1 sites will be subject to a more detailed assessment and graded. This grading will be used to determine whether the project is something the Council would be interested in legally securing, or not, and which sites will be prioritised to enter discussions with legal first.

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