Register your interest in a legal agreement to regulate an off-site Biodiversity net gain site

How you can achieve BNG

There are 3 ways that a developer can achieve 10% BNG:

1. Developers can enhance and restore biodiversity on-site (within the red line boundary of a development site).
2. If developers can only achieve part of their BNG on-site, they can deliver through a mixture of on-site and off-site. They can either make off-site biodiversity gains on their own land outside the development site, or buy off-site biodiversity units from the market. Off-site biodiversity gain sites can be set up on land to increase its biodiversity value, which would create 'biodiversity units' that can then be sold to developers. The developer can use the biodiversity units to achieve their 10% BNG.
3. If developers cannot achieve on-site or off-site BNG, they must buy statutory biodiversity credits. See Gov.uk: buy statutory biodiversity credits.

Requirements for off-site biodiversity gain sites

The Environment Act 2021 states that habitats created for off-site biodiversity net gain must be secured for at least 30 years through a legal agreement. This can either be an S106 agreement with us or a Conservation Covenant with a Responsible Body. See Gov.uk: conservation covenant agreements: designated responsible bodies.

You must enter into a legal agreement before you can add off-site biodiversity units onto Natural England's Biodiversity Gain Site register and then sell them to developers. See Gov.uk: enter a legal agreement for biodiversity net gain and Gov.uk: register a biodiversity gain site.

In the case of a S106 agreement this:

• binds the landowner and any successors in title
• means that we will ensure that the landowner (or another person) manages the habitat to the standard set out in the agreed Defra Metric, and Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan (for 30 years after the work is completed)
• allows you to then register the site on the National Biodiversity Gain Site Register to start selling BNG units - see Gov.uk: sell biodiversity units as a land manager: step 6 - register your gain site

We are not required to provide legal agreements to third parties wishing to sell biodiversity units on their land. It is at our discretion and we will only facilitate this where it will support our strategic objectives. We will consider supporting applications which:

• support the delivery of our emerging Local Nature Recovery Strategy
• best align with the need for Biodiversity Units in the County by location and type
• meet the requirements below

Requirements for off-site BNG sites

We will only consider regulating off-site biodiversity gain sites that deliver the best outcomes for biodiversity in County Durham.

You must:

• have legal control of the land for a minimum of 30 years or ensure that the landowner is willing to sign a biodiversity net gain S106 agreement
• allow us/or a third party on our behalf to access the site to monitor the habitat and send us regular monitoring reports

We will accept registrations of interest from landowners, agents, habitat bank brokers and developers.

Site requirements

The site must:

• have no existing licences, permissions, agreements, consents or restoration plans on the land that could be in conflict with delivery of BNG, or result in double counting - see Gov.uk: combining environmental payments: biodiversity net gain (BNG) and nutrient mitigation
• have an adequate ecological baseline (as shown by a habitat survey and condition assessment) - see Gov.uk: statutory biodiversity metric tools and guides
• be able to achieve a realistic uplift in biodiversity value (as shown in the Statutory Biodiversity Metric) - see Gov.uk: statutory biodiversity metric tools and guides
• have an Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan agreed with us as part of the process - see Gov.uk: creating a habitat management and monitoring plan for BNG

Proposal requirements

The proposal must:

• be feasible in terms of environmental constraints such as soil nutrient status and hydrology
• be acceptable in terms of impacts in relation to landscape, mineral and waste safeguarding, public rights of way, historic and archaeological constraints
• achieve the appropriate additional requirements as per the Government's definition - see Gov.uk: combining environmental payments: biodiversity net gain (BNG) and nutrient mitigation
• not result in a negative impact on irreplaceable habitats, protected or priority habitats or species, or designated sites

We will also encourage you to submit all biological records from the site to the Environmental Records Information Centre for the North East of England (ERIC North East) - see Natural England: Access to Evidence - Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan.

How much it costs

If we enter a legal agreement with you, we will charge you:

• a set-up fee to cover the time spent for us to review your proposal and draft the legal agreement (the cost will depend on the complexity of the proposal. An estimate will be given and fee sought prior to detailed checks)
• a biodiversity monitoring fee to cover the cost of monitoring the progress of the habitat creation for 30 years, the cost will be based on the size of the site and complexity

Register your interest

The council is not taking registrations of interest at the current time, whilst we work through those we have already received. We recommend you instead seek a legal agreement from a designated responsible body. See Gov.uk: conservation covenant agreements: designated responsible bodies.