Matthew Evans quoted in Property Week on the potential net loss of biodiversity net gain
As we reach the end of the first year of the biodiversity net gain (BNG) regulations, the industry is reflecting on how the regime is coming along. Matthew Evans, Counsel on our Planning team, speaks to Property Week on the response of developers and landed estate owners, and shared their concerns around BNG.
“I think developers are seeing it as an additional cost and they are definitely taking it into account. I think it’s the 30-year monitoring period [that is of most concern], certainly if BNG is being delivered on site. It’s not just a case of doing some landscaping; it’s doing landscaping to a certain level and for a long time. And when you’re looking at complex sites that are perhaps going to be broken up, how do you assign responsibility for that?”
“I was speaking to a lot of our landed estate clients the other week and their feeling is that a new private market has sprung up to both deliver and secure BNG land. There is a concern now that to let it fall by the wayside would be quite soul-destroying. I do wonder whether the government is saying: ‘We’ve got a lot of developers already complaining about pre-commencement conditions generally and why has this been added on?”
Read the full article in Property Week here.
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