We have run a number of events for local authorities as part of our LPA Biodiversity Net Gain Capacity and Skills project.
Natural England Biodiversity Net Gain update
We hosted an update for local authorities from Nick White of Natural England on 18 April 2023. The slides and recording of the event are available.
The watercourse metric, training for local planners and ecologists
In March 2023 we hosted specialist training by the Environment Agency, looking in detail at the watercourse element of the wider Biodiversity Metric. A recording and slides from the session are available on our events page.
Biodiversity Net Gain and Nature Recovery
We ran a series of workshops for local authorities with a focus on biodiversity net gain and nature recovery from October through to December 2022.
The recordings and slides from the events are now available on our event page. These included updates for officers and members, plus sessions on policy and strategy and BNG in development management.
Biodiversity Net Gain consultation
In February and March 2022, PAS ran events for local authorities on Defra’s consultation on Biodiversity Net Gain regulations and implementation.
The events were intended to help LPAs understand what the consultation covers and how best to respond. We ran overview events and deep-dive discussion sessions on key topics. Slides and recordings of the events plus a summary of what we heard are available here.
The deep-dive discussion sessions on the consultation focused on the following topics:
- BNG offsite delivery and opportunities for LPAs
- BNG evaluation, monitoring and enforcement
- BNG process for TCPA development
- BNG and additionality
- Biodiversity gain plan
Conservation covenants
PAS hosted two sessions in June 2022 for a local authority audience where Defra provided an overview of conservation covenants for local authorities and Natural England ran through the perspective of a 'responsible body'. Conservation covenants are a new type of voluntary but legally binding agreement enabled through the Environment Act that can secure the long-term conservation of the natural or heritage features of the land covered by the agreement. They can help secure off-site BNG and have a range of other applications for nature and heritage conservation, including nutrient neutrality mitigation. The slides and recording from one of the events are available.
Biodiversity Metric
PAS hosted a Natural England training session for local authority planners on Biodiversity Metric 3 on Monday 18th October 2021. The recording and slides from the event are available.
Summer 2021 workshops
We ran workshops from May to July 2021 to get input from local planners and councillors. We ran three events for officers, one for councillors and one focused on London Boroughs.
You can access the slides from the workshops here for an overview of the situation with biodiversity net gain and the Environment Bill in Summer 2020 and to see what we discussed with attendees.
A summary of the outputs from the workshops is available, including what local authorities are doing now on biodiversity net gain (BNG) and what they need to enable them to be ready for mandatory BNG.