Minutes:
Nick Harding asked for agenda items for the next meeting to be submitted.
John Maxey asked for something on Biodiversity Net Gain to be an agenda item for the next meeting including how it is measured.
The biodiversity tool kit
And Small Site Metric
The Small Sites Metric - JP040 (nepubprod.appspot.com)
Biodiversity Net Gain FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions | Local Government Association
Nick Harding agreed to arrange for the ecology officer to attend the next meeting to do a short presentation.
John Maxey added that it would be useful to know where developers should be looking for the targets that are being looked for at a specific site to try and provide. He added that if there is going to be an off-site contribution basis, it would be very useful to know how that will be operated. Nick Harding stated that currently there are no locations which have been brought forward, which could be where any developer contributions for net gain could be spent, the option is for on site delivery. He explained that on site delivery can be looked at in two ways, firstly the assets that fall within the particular site and whether any of the assets can be enhanced in order to provide the net gain and the alternative is to look at it from the concept of priority species that we have improving the lot of and work it on that basis. Nick Harding explained that a great deal depends on the nature of the development, scale and the opportunities that arise on the site. He added that if the particular development site is one which is devoid of biodiversity, achieving a small percentage is relatively straight forward and the challenge will be if the development site is of a more substantial nature and achieves a higher score in the first place.
David Thomas made reference to the Local Plan and he expressed the view that it appears to be a missed opportunity that there is nothing within the plan that suggests that there is an area set aside such as a public park or wildlife forest that could be supported and if someone was prepared to develop it they could then take money in increments off developers to develop it into something of substantial gain and value to the whole community rather than just someone planting a singular tree in their garden. Nick Harding stated that contained within the Annual Monitoring report of the Council in relation to planning matters, it explains what the status of qualifying nature sites is with regards to whether they are deteriorating in terms of quality, staying the same or improving. He added that in relation to those, there is that opportunity to improve one of more of those so that there is clearly a designated site and therefore its ongoing management is important, but there needs to be assurances that there is an element of public benefit and that will include ensuring that there is public access to a particular site and whether increased public access is appropriate given the qualities of that particular site.
Nick Harding stated that in terms of the waterways there is the potential opportunity for biodiversity enhancements which could potentially be funded through the off-setting process. David Thomas said that it would be one area and there is a strong link between the environment and water and the potential gains that can be obtained from biodiversity by putting water and set aside land together. He referred to the development by the March bypass and the balancing pond beyond that and added that there had been talks previously with regard to the inclusion of a country park and he questioned whether those concepts had been developed given that there is a potential funding source available for delivering them which is the 10% net biodiversity gain which wasn’t in place previously. Nick Harding stated that he is not aware of any detailed work which has been carried out, but he agreed it maybe something that needs to be looked into further.
Councillor Sutton asked whether the monies would go to a central Fenland fund, where potential bidders can bid into, or would it be a fund specific to the area where it was built. Nick Harding explained that no decisions have been made to date as to how the process would work and in his opinion he think that it would be advantageous to invite organisations or land owners to present a proposal to the Council and a list of projects for the enhancement of their particular sites and then the Council would be a position to accept biodiversity offsetting contributions, the money could then be allocated to specific projects which have gone through the approval process.
The dates of the meetings going forward
13 July 2022
26 October 2022
25 January 2023
12 April 2023