BNG reportedly delayed again

Biodiversity net gain legislation has reportedly been delayed again until next month.

According to The Times, “several sources” have said the rules, which dictate that sites must achieve a biodiversity net gain of 10%, have been postponed until February. This is reportedly because statutory instruments for the legislation were laid before parliament too late to make the intended January 31 date for implementation.

Statutory instruments under secondary legislation must be laid three weeks before they can come into effect.

In September, it was announced that BNG legislation would be delayed from November until the end of January.

A DEFRA spokesperson said: “Mandatory biodiversity net gain will ensure new developments work for both wildlife and people – and just this week the first package to support these measures was passed in parliament.

“We will now, subject to parliamentary timing, press ahead with the next set of legislation with a view to going live as soon as possible.”

There are six statutory instruments to enable BNG.

The Times article stated there were concerns over how well enforced the rules would be upon implementation, “as an estimated one in four councils does not have an ecologist on staff”.

Angus …