Red squirrel eating acorn Ⓒ Mark Hamblin
Delivering Biodiversity Net Gain in Greater Manchester
Supporting Local Planning Authorities
Biodiversity Net Gain for new developments will become mandatory nationally by November 2023, presenting the opportunity to bring in £5 – 6 million per year to fund nature recovery in Greater Manchester.
An England-wide open market for Biodiversity Net Gain offsetting is starting to develop now, and developers will be able to choose where and who to offset with. Local Planning Authorities will be able to set out (in local strategies, plans and policies) where priorities for offsetting are, which will weight biodiversity units created in those areas more favourably, but cannot mandate or direct the 'supply site' where offsets should take place.
The Greater Manchester Environment Fund has been working in collaboration with other key stakeholders across Greater Manchester to prepare for mandatory Biodiversity Net Gain. Our NEIRF funding is helping us to identify the best ways in which we can work with LPA’s to ensure investment stays local, in the most strategic and beneficial places for nature as identified through the Local Nature Recovery Network Strategy, and will allow local non-profit organisations to guarantee there is a biodiversity increase as a result of development.
Bringing forward sites
GMEF has hosted workshops with each LPA to identify how GMEF can best support each step to ensure investment stays local. As a non-profit organisation, we have identified the resources that would be required to support sites through the different stages. By ensuring costs are included in the Biodiversity Net Gain unit fee, GMEF can provide a centralised Biodiversity Net Gain investment facility that will ensure funds are spent in the most appropriate places and will have the biggest impact for nature.
Services GMEF will offer Districts through Biodiversity Net Gain Facility
The below steps must be taken to ensure sites are ready to sell units that have been properly priced, that take into account legal, monitoring, verification, and ongoing management costs over a 30 year period.
Identification
- Supporting districts to identify and prioritise supply sites.
Preparation and Development
- Habitat conditions and assessments.
- Defining habitat enhancements.
- Metric analysis.
- Costed management plans (HMMP).
- Identification of Unit cost.
Securement
- Appraisal of financial options.
- Securing the agreement from landowner for 30 years.
Registration and Sale of Units
- Registering sites.
- Verifying agreement.
- Promoting units for sale.
- Negotiating with developers and drafting agreement requirements.
Delivery
- Procuring delivery contractor and managing payments.
- Managing monitoring survey contract.
- Managing verification of monitoring surveys / reporting and liaising with DEFRA.
