Biodiversity Local Plan
Case reference EIR2023/01908
Published 6 December 2023
Request
I am writing to request information I am entitled to under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
I am requesting the following information:
1. Any policies and papers, from 1 Jan 2022 to 1 November 2023, stating the percentage of biodiversity net gain your council will require as a condition for planning permission (under the Environment Act 2021)
(a) as part of an agreed Local Plan; or
(b) as part of a draft Local Plan.
2. Any polices and papers, from 1 Jan 2019 to 1 November 2023, stating whether you have formally declared a nature/ecological emergency.
3. Any policies and papers, from 1 Jan 2022 to 1 November 2023, containing a target for your area to contribute to protect and manage 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.
4. On what date your current Local Plan will be five years old and when you expect a new Local Plan to be agreed.
Response
I am writing to request information I am entitled to under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. I am requesting the following information:
1. Any policies and papers, from 1 Jan 2022 to 1 November 2023, stating the percentage of biodiversity net gain your council will require as a condition for planning permission (under the Environment Act 2021)
(a) as part of an agreed Local Plan; or
The current adopted Core Strategy 2015 does not have references to Biodiversity Net Gain, as the Plan predates the Environment Act 2021 where the requirement emerged from.
(b) as part of a draft Local Plan.
The Council consulted on Local Plan Policy Options 2022 as part of the development of the new Local Plan (2021-2041) in April 2022. However the existing Local plan does not have a biodiversity net gain requirement, as this was early in the process of development plan making, only a policy relating to retention of Green Infrastructure.
The Council has recently updated its Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy 2023 and there is a recommendation for consideration of a requirement for 20% Biodiversity Net Gain. This will be a consideration with the development of our policies as the Local Plan drafting continues.
The current Local Plan is under review and the Council will be consulting on a Draft Local Plan (Regulation 18) in March 2024, where further requirements regarding the percentage of biodiversity net gain as part of Local Policy may yet come forward.
2. Any polices and papers, from 1 Jan 2019 to 1 November 2023, stating whether you have formally declared a nature/ecological emergency.
The Council declared an ecological emergency in 2019. This information is publically available and published on Herefordshire Council's website, and can be viewed via the following link:
(https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/news/article/1196/you-can-help-make-herefordshire-a-zero-carbon-and-nature-rich-county#:~:text=We%20are%20committed%20to%20becoming,natural%20environment%2C%20biodiversity%20and%20wildlife)
As such we consider this information to be excepted under Regulation 6 of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 because this is available to you via other means.
3. Any policies and papers, from 1 Jan 2022 to 1 November 2023, containing a target for your area to contribute to protect and manage 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030.
The Council is currently developing the Local Nature Strategy for the county. Once the baseline has been established and opportunities mapping identified, the priorities will be set out within the strategy with targets identified.
4. On what date your current Local Plan will be five years old and when you expect a new Local Plan to be agreed.
The current Local Plan is for the period 2011- 2031 and became 5 years old on 16th October 2020. We are in the process of reviewing the Local Plan and are aiming to adopt a new Local Plan by summer 2026.
Documents
This is Herefordshire Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
You can browse our other responses or make a new FOI request.