Since the start of April 2024, the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) obligation has applied to most planning permissions and will do so for all development consent orders (DCOs) from November 2025.
Earlier this year, partner Angus Walker submitted freedom of information (FOI) requests to all 317 local and 10 national park authorities in England, querying how many applications for statutory biodiversity credits it had received since 12 February and how many of these had been granted or refused by the agency.
In an article discussing the implementation of the scheme, Planning Magazine draws on Angus’ research, stating:
'Planning lawyer Angus Walker, a partner at law firm BDB Pitmans, submitted a freedom of information (FOI) request to Natural England asking how many applications for statutory biodiversity credits it had received since 12 February and how many of these the agency had granted or refused. In a response sent on 1 August, seen by Planning, Natural England said that it had until that point granted just one application, for 0.7A1 credits and 0.19H credits. The government agency further confirmed it had refused one application, for 0.09A1 credits. There is a third application pending, for 0.46W credits.'
Subscribers to Planning Magazine can read the full article on the Planning Resource website.
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