Planning guidance
We have published planning guidance on Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).
View government guidance on Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) on the GOV.UK website.
Chorley Council definitions on the ‘significance’ of habitats is set out in the significance definition guide. This guidance sets out how on-site Biodiversity Net Gains are likely to be secured, including when proposed habitat creation and/or enhancement meets the threshold to require a legal agreement (Section 106) to secure, and when ongoing monitoring will be required. Developments with on-site BNG that meets ‘ecological significance’, will be required to pay monitoring fees to the council for the ongoing monitoring of the habitat.
Monitoring fees are dependent on the site size and technical difficulty of created and/or enhanced habitats. Monitoring fees for ecologically significant on-site BNG will be a one-off payment that will be between approx. £3,700 to £15,000, for sites between 0 to 40ha. Monitoring fees for sites exceeding 40ha will be determined on a site-by-site basis.”
Habitat banking
We are offering a discretionary service to assist the creation of Habitat Banks in the borough. For information on this service and associated fees, please see our Private Habitat Banking Criteria. If you wish to make an application to set up a Habitat Bank in Chorley with the assistance of the council, please send your enquiry to our Biodiversity Gain Project Lead catie.haworth@chorley.gov.uk, including the information set out at Stage 1.
For additional guidance on creating and selling Biodiversity Units for off-site BNG, refer to the GOV.UK website.