Environmental Audit Committee urges “great caution” over Government’s BNG questioning

Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) chair, Toby Perkins MP, has urged the UK government to exercise “great caution” after reports have emerged that the Government is potentially questioning the future of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG).

BNG is designed to help nature recovery by mandating a 10% increase in nature on most developments. Alarm has been raised that the Government is re-evaluating the scheme, which local authorities, ecologists, planners, developers and land managers have invested significant time and effort into.

In an exclusive for ENDS Report, EAC chair Toby Perkins said: “The strength of BNG is that there will be more or better natural habitat than there was before the development. This approach has been widely admired across the world. Very little detail is available on the government’s plans for a Nature Restoration Fund, and an approach that pools monies raised to deliver greater good may well have some merit, but the government should proceed with great caution before it sacrifices a landmark scheme so early into its inception.”

The comments come after an EAC evidence session on housing development and environmental sustainability, to which CIEEM gave evidence.