Policy BG/BG: Biodiversity and geodiversity

1. All development must deliver statutory biodiversity net gain (BNG), providing a minimum of 10% BNG against the baseline, unless exempt under the Environment Act 2021, to be provided on-site in line with guidance. 

2.

For housing, development where 10 or more homes will be provided, or the site has an area of 0.5 hectares or more. For non-residential development it means additional f loorspace of 1,000m2 or more, or a site of 1 hectare or more, or as otherwise provided in the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015.

in

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

must provide a minimum 20% biodiversity net gain (BNG), (unless exempt under the Environment Act 2021), to be provided on-site where this is feasible and effective. 

3. Where onsite options for BNG have been evidenced to be exhausted as agreed with the

The public authority whose duty it is to carry out specific planning functions for a particular area. All references to local planning authority include the district council, London borough council, county council, Broads Authority, National Park Authority, the Mayor of London and a development corporation, to the extent appropriate to their responsibilities.

, BNG should be delivered offsite via the purchase of biodiversity credits from a registered strategic habitat bank provider as listed on the Defra

The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

Gains Sites Register, or through a bespoke scheme on a site registered on the Defra

The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

Gains Sites Register, or through the purchase of statutory biodiversity credits, or a combination of the above. The Local Planning Authority will encourage delivery of replacement habitat within areas identified within the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Nature Recovery Strategy priority areas. 

4. Planning applications subject to mandatory BNG will require a biodiversity plan to be submitted to, and approved in writing by, the LPA prior to commencement of development. 

5. Habitat enhancement and creation measures, including their establishment and ongoing management and monitoring, will be prescribed and secured through conservation covenants, planning conditions and / or obligations. 

Protection of biodiversity and geodiversity 

6. For proposals where development may affect biodiversity (including sites of biodiversity importance, habitats and species of principal importance) or sites of geodiversity, prior to the determination of an application, applicants will provide survey information and site assessment that is proportionate to the likely severity of impacts. 

7.

This refers to development in its widest sense, including buildings, and streets, spaces and places. It also refers to both redevelopment, including refurbishment, as well as new development.

proposals which have a direct or indirect adverse effect on sites of biodiversity or geological importance (as identified on the Policies Map) will not be permitted. Exceptions will only be made where the benefits of the development significantly outweigh any adverse impacts. In such cases where development is permitted, proposals must demonstrate that the mitigation hierarchy has been implemented, and the intrinsic natural features of particular interest must be safeguarded and enhanced having regard to: 

  a. The international, national or local status and designation of the site; and, 

  b. The nature and quality of the site’s features, including its rarity value; and, 

  c. The extent of any adverse impacts on the notified features; and, 

  d. The likely effectiveness of any proposed mitigation with respect to the protection of the features of interest; and, 

  e. The need for compensatory measures in order to re-create, on or off the site, features or habitats that would be lost to development. 

8.

This refers to development in its widest sense, including buildings, and streets, spaces and places. It also refers to both redevelopment, including refurbishment, as well as new development.

must protect and enhance irreplaceable habitats within

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

.

This refers to development in its widest sense, including buildings, and streets, spaces and places. It also refers to both redevelopment, including refurbishment, as well as new development.

negatively impacting irreplaceable habitat will not be permitted unless wholly exceptional circumstances are demonstrated, and a bespoke compensation strategy is provided. 

9.

This refers to development in its widest sense, including buildings, and streets, spaces and places. It also refers to both redevelopment, including refurbishment, as well as new development.

will mitigate evidenced recreational impacts on designated biodiversity and geodiversity sites, including providing Strategic Alternative Green Space for development proposed within Natural England’s Impact Risk Zones for Sites of Special Scientific Interest. 

BNG has been identified as a mechanism for the restoration of biodiversity across the UK. National planning policy sets out a requirement for developments to achieve biodiversity net gain and the Environment Act 2021 sets a mandatory statutory minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain above the ecological baseline for the application site. Cambridgeshire currently has one of the smallest areas of land managed for nature of any county in the country, relative to its size. 

The local need for biodiversity restoration is also recognised within the Cambridgeshire Doubling Nature vision, aiming to increase land managed for nature from around 8% to 16% (the national average). Considering this, together with the relatively low level of designated sites and priority habitats that

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

has compared with other English areas, highlights the need for development to bring further net gains beyond the 10% required nationally. 

The opportunity for smaller sites to deliver meaningful BNG can be constrained by size and available open space, with these sites having fewer opportunities to deliver biodiversity net gain. Private gardens’ classification within the Statutory

The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

Metric as low-value habitats post-development, (i.e. vegetated garden) and also, the inability to count tree planting, small ponds or creating wildlife-friendly gardens as biodiversity gain can lead developers to have to look for off-site units or statutory credits to deliver BNG, even when delivering a minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain. Therefore, requiring smaller sites to deliver 20% biodiversity net gain would be unreasonable, and may impact viability. However, where opportunities to secure BNG on exempted sites arise, this is encouraged. 

Current best practice is to deliver BNG onsite, (rewarded through the Defra Statutory BNG metric) and as per the

The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

Gain Hierarchy (BGH) which emphasises prioritising onsite measures before exploring off-site options, ensuring developments make the most effective contributions to local biodiversity. Offsite BNG allows for strategic delivery of BNG but may be a less desirable option in some cases as it is removed from the immediate impact of the development on both local biodiversity and the local community. 

Green Infrastructure is a multi-functional network of public green spaces and routes, landscapes, biodiversity and heritage. It includes a wide range of elements such as country parks, wildlife habitats, rights of way, commons and greens, nature reserves, waterways and bodies of water, and historic landscapes and monuments.

(GI), an important element including trees, accessible natural greenspace and soft edges, should typically always be included in all new developments (see policy BG/GI). While GI does count toward BNG scores, it is recognised that onsite BNG invariably forms part of a multifunctional GI space and may not be the primary function, for example existing alongside recreational space or Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDs); this can lead to compromises in habitat creation and long-term value of the new habitats and in these circumstances offsite BNG provides a more sustainable option. 

The NPPF (2025) states that to protect and enhance biodiversity and geodiversity, plans should identify, map and safeguard components of local wildlife-rich habitats and wider ecological networks, including the hierarchy of international, national and locally designated sites of importance for biodiversity, wildlife corridors and stepping stones that connect them, along with areas identified by national and local partnerships for habitat management, enhancement, restoration or creation. 

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

has a range of important sites and habitats for biodiversity, recognised through designations, from international to local importance. Some of these are also of geological importance. Sites of

The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

or Geological Importance are identified on the Policies Map and these represent a tiered network for the conservation of biodiversity and geodiversity within Greater Cambridgeshire. These sites include: 

• statutorily protected international Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and, 
• national Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and,
• Local Nature Reserves (LNRs), Local Geological Sites (LGS) (worthy of protection for their Earth Science or landscape importance but are not already protected as SSSIs), County and City Wildlife Sites (CWSs and CiWSs),and Protected Road Verges (PRV) are non-statutorily protected sites of local importance (sites without statutory protection designated at a local level). 

European sites (SACs and SPAs) are protected by the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulation 2017 as amended (the Habitats Regulations) and the Councils must carry out a habitats regulations assessment (HRA) to test if a plan or project proposal could significantly harm the designated features of a European site. Natural England will be consulted on any planning application in or adjacent to a European Site, or any such candidate site. 

At present the only site of international importance within

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

is the Eversden and Wimpole Woods SAC (the SAC is shown on the Policies Map). The site provides a habitat for a breeding colony of the Barbastelle bat, one of the rarest bats in Western Europe. The bats have been recorded at a small number of other sites up to eleven kilometres from the Woods. The area of particular interest for the bats’ flight and feeding areas is shown within the

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

SPD (2022). 

There are a number of other sites within the surrounding districts, which are considered as part of any Habitat Regulation Assessment carried out by the Councils, because of their proximity to Greater Cambridgeshire and/or the nature of their conservation interest: 

• Ouse Washes SAC and SPA 
• Fenland SAC (Woodwalton Fen, Chippenham Fen, Wicken Fen) 
• Portholme SAC 
• Devil’s Dyke SAC 
• Breckland SAC and SPA 

SSSIs are statutorily protected by their designation under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. Natural England will be consulted on any planning application in or adjacent to a SSSI. The Council will not normally grant permission for any proposal which causes significant harm to a SSSI. 

Cambridge City Council has declared 12 Local Nature Reserves (LNRs) on land that it owns and manages, including a number of the city’s commons, and Cambridgeshire County Council has declared 5 LNRs on land that it owns and manages in South Cambridgeshire. LNRs are statutorily designated by local authorities under Section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949. County Wildlife Sites (CWSs) and City Wildlife Sites (CiWSs) (which also include a number of the city’s commons) have been selected as sites of substantive nature conservation interest, against published criteria, as a result of surveys undertaken initially by the local Wildlife Trust for the Council and maintained by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Environmental Records Centre (CPERC). 

Other undesignated green spaces also make up the ecological network of sites across the city and would be subject to this policy, if they are identified as meeting the criteria for city or county wildlife site status following the County Wildlife Sites System. 

Local Geological Sites (LGS) are selected through the candidate LGS system and for mapping on the county records system held by Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Environmental Records Centre (CPERC). 

The policy encourages the delivery of offsite BNG within areas identified within the LNRS priority areas. Where BNG is delivered offsite within the identified priority areas, the ‘strategic significance’ multiplier can be applied within the Statutory

The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

Metric. This will increase the value of those habitat credits over and above credits created outside of these strategically important areas. 

When considering local BNG proposals the LPA will seek to ensure that the BNG is the primary use of the space and is ecologically viable. Proposals will require agreement by the LPA’s ecologist that they provide a long-term benefit to local biodiversity that is compatible with other site uses such as recreational space or sports pitches. To ensure the delivery of BNG measures, the Councils will secure off site habitat creation and its long-term management (minimum 30 years), through planning obligations, or, where BNG is provided on land outside of the applicant’s control, by obligations. 

Where off-site habitat measures are required, applicants must provide UK habitat assessment surveys to agree a baseline metric of the existing offsite habitats, conform to BNG CIEEM/IEMA/CIRIA-Good Practice Principles for

This refers to development in its widest sense, including buildings, and streets, spaces and places. It also refers to both redevelopment, including refurbishment, as well as new development.

and seek to deliver BNG as close as feasible to the impacts of the development. The Defra

The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

Metric trading rules should also be observed. Submission of a completed Statutory

The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

Metric (SBM) will be required to evidence how biodiversity net gain will be achieved upon submission of development proposal. 

The full biodiversity gain plan will be submitted either with the planning application or after the permission is granted, but before development has commenced. Delivery of off-site biodiversity gains through statutory biodiversity credits is the last resort for development which is unable to meet BNG requirements onsite or off-site. 

Prior to the determination of any development application (unless exempt under the Environment Act 2021), survey information and site assessment that is proportionate to the likely severity of impacts must be provided by applicants. Submitted documentation should be produced having regard to the best practice guidance published by Natural England (BS42020, 2013 or predecessor), should demonstrate that the mitigation hierarchy has been implemented and should evidence how the intrinsic natural features of particular interest are to be safeguarded or enhanced. 

Submitted ecological reports are expected to explain how the mitigation hierarchy has been embedded into the design of the development and to set out the steps to be followed in order of priority when delivering BNG. Where impacts on habitats and species cannot be avoided, a clear explanation of why alternative sites are not feasible, and what proposed mitigation and compensation measures are necessary to address all likely significant adverse effects is needed. 

In exceptional cases, national planning policy allows for the development need and benefits to demonstrably outweigh the loss of irreplaceable habitat within

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

(including (but not confined to) ancient woodlands; ancient and veteran trees; and lowland fens). These considerations and the application decision is the responsibility of the local planning authority for applications within

The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

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Any exceptionally permitted development proposals which have a direct or indirect adverse effect on sites of biodiversity or geological importance (SSSIs and other designated nature sites are identified on the policies map) and including irreplaceable habitat (as defined by The

The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

Gain Requirements (Irreplaceable Habitat) Regulations 2024) must seek to minimise adverse impacts and will be required to agree a bespoke compensation strategy, with the local planning authority. 

Where development resulting in the loss or deterioration of ancient woodland, ancient trees and veteran trees is exceptionally permitted, compensation measures will not be considered as part of the assessment of the development proposal and, will only be considered once the existence of exceptional circumstances has been ascertained. Any proposals which would lead to the creation of new woodland, or the restoration or improvement of ancient woodland should follow the UK Forestry Standard. 

• The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

  A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

  : Topic Paper 3:

  The variety of life in all its forms. This includes the plant and animal species that make up our wildlife and the habitats in which they live.

  and Green Spaces

• The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

  Green Infrastructure is a multi-functional network of public green spaces and routes, landscapes, biodiversity and heritage. It includes a wide range of elements such as country parks, wildlife habitats, rights of way, commons and greens, nature reserves, waterways and bodies of water, and historic landscapes and monuments.

  Oppotunity Mapping Baseline Report (2020)

• The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

  Green Infrastructure is a multi-functional network of public green spaces and routes, landscapes, biodiversity and heritage. It includes a wide range of elements such as country parks, wildlife habitats, rights of way, commons and greens, nature reserves, waterways and bodies of water, and historic landscapes and monuments.

  Oppotunity Mapping Final Report (2021)

• The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

  Green Infrastructure is a multi-functional network of public green spaces and routes, landscapes, biodiversity and heritage. It includes a wide range of elements such as country parks, wildlife habitats, rights of way, commons and greens, nature reserves, waterways and bodies of water, and historic landscapes and monuments.

  Strategy  - Volume 1 - emerging strategy and standards (2025)

• The combined areas of Cambridge District and South Cambridgeshire District Councils.

  Green Infrastructure is a multi-functional network of public green spaces and routes, landscapes, biodiversity and heritage. It includes a wide range of elements such as country parks, wildlife habitats, rights of way, commons and greens, nature reserves, waterways and bodies of water, and historic landscapes and monuments.

  Strategy  - Volume 2 - supporting evidence (2025)

We will consider all comments while developing the next version of the

A plan for the future development of a local area, drawn up by the local planning authority in consultation with the community. In law this is described as the development plan documents adopted under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. A local plan can consist of either strategic or non-strategic policies, or a combination of the two.

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All comments must be received by 30 January 2026 at 5pm.