Minutes:
NH explained that there is a government consultation on future homes and building standards which contains information with regards to reducing Co2.
NH added that with regards to another building regulations matter for tighter water efficiency, and he explained that it would appear that a new standard which sites below 110 litres per day is going to be introduced. He explained that related to that there has been some engagement by Anglia Water (AW) when it comes to employment related development which is a high consumer of water and AW are looking to introduce some controls in respect of that type of development and they are looking for local authority support for that. NH stated that FDC have not issued any support for it, and we have concerns in respect of that requirement, and we are aware of the pressure that there is with regards to water resources within our area, notwithstanding the proposed reservoir at Chatteris. NH explained that he cannot provide further detail as the information coming forward from AW is vague and it only talks about industries which are high consumers of water without any indication of what that water consumption threshold is that they are looking to bring under some form of control. Any forthcoming news will be shared.
Biodiversity Net Gain for major sites is now live and agents will now need to submit BNG calculations before and after and the calculations will be vetted by the ecologist. He added that the existing site BNG calculation will always be retrospective if there has been any site clearance.
NH explained that he has highlighted to FDC Property Team along with the officer that manages the cemeteries that the council looks after as well as opens spaces to ascertain whether there is any land which has no development potential or is under used which the council could put forward a location where off-site biodiversity could be provided where it cannot be provided for on existing development sites. He added that for smaller sites within Fenland by bringing them forward it formats where BNG provision is going to be significant challenge.
Councillor Mrs Laws stated that she would be unhappy with closed cemeteries and graveyards being utilised in this way. She added that in her view there should be no encroachment into the cemetery itself.
JT asked whether the Council are updating their validation checklist with regards to BNG and what is going to be required at the validation stage for BNG.NH explained that when he reviewed it last week he could see that the regulations had been updated to facilitate the national requirement for the submission of the BNG calculations and he added that if it is on the national list then FDC will make reference to it on the local list. JT added that KLWN have outlined a new matrix which has been released via the DEFRA website and the statutory tools to compete it plus the requirement of a written statement for the BNG potential and follow up documents including management and draft plans when there are outline applications and then to be confirmed if an approval is given at discharge of condition stage.
NH stated that the council has a process which has to be followed if the local list is to be updated which involves committee approval and consultation and therefore it will take a while for it to filter through. He added that if the national requirement has not ben updated yet then the application will not be invalidated because the BNG calculation is missing. JT asked whether the council will accept what ecologists put forward on major schemes at the moment and NH stated that he will check whether the national requirement has been changed and if it has then the website will be updated to reflect that but if the national requirement has not bee published yet then FDC cannot invalidate any applications because the BNG information is missing.
MC stated that if off site improvements can be allowed to compensate for development how close to the development do they have to be. NH stated that the preference is for it to be provided on site and if it is going to be off site it would need to be as local as possible and as a district we would not be happy with a BNG being provided out of the district unless the application site is adjacent to one of our boundaries and there is an available habitat which is in need of enhancement which is in closer proximity than the nearest appropriate site within the Fenland district.
MC asked whether any work has been undertaken to identify projects which local developers could take on board to achieve an improvement. NH stated that there have been none identified at the current time.MC explained that he is aware that Warwickshire have been running this type of project over the past couple of years and he asked whether they have been contacted to find out what they have discovered or is there a document which gives guidance on what can be done as a result of the Warwickshire learning curve. NH explained that Fenland has had a number of major developments within the area and as a consequence of those requiring offsite bio diversity to be provided we have gone to a number of organisations and land owner bodies to see whether or not they have any projects where any off site contributions could be spent for the enhancement of BNG. He made the point that it has been a struggle to obtain engagement and therefore there is greater emphasis being put on trying to get under used FDC owned land in order to make provision. He added that he has looked at the CCC farms scheme as they have a site where they are selling BNG credits, but it is very expensive and not feasible for Fenland.
JM asked where Fenland are obtaining their ecology advice from. NH stated that advice is being sought from CCC. JM asked whether that resource allocates a dedicated amount of time for FDC and NH explained that FDC have half a post.
CC asked whether there is any advice or guidance available with regards to BNG credits. NH stated that FDC have received some Government funding in relation to BNG and it is something where a cost is going to be established.
CC explained that it is very hard to get to grips with potential costs associated with e policy. NH stated that we should be striving for on site delivery of the BNG and it needs to be the priority in terms of delivery with offsite provision being the fallback position if needed. CC asked whether there was a threshold which has been introduced with regards to the provision on site in terms of unit numbers. He added that if there are ten units of social housing within the local plan it states that a contribution can be provided and not provide on-site. NH stated that there is no threshold.
JM stated that he has heard from general publications and by reading online. that the cost of £20,000 to £30,000 per unit has been mentioned which is a lot of money. He explained that he has been trying to enable onsite provision without reducing the numbers that a site can accommodate because it has a financial cost by the land owner having adjoining land which is not allocated and non-allocated land has ben taken into the option specifically so it can be a potential site for BNG to enable to keep the numbers into the proposed allocation and deliver a nice soft edge to the settlement BNG adjoining.
CC asked JM for clarification with regards to the £20,000 to £30,000 per unit and asked him whether he means per unit of credit requirement.JM confirmed that is correct and it is a lot of money and there are people who are trying to attract investment on that.
GS asked JM whether he is including the adjoining land within the baseline and JM stated that will be down to the local authorities’ requirements are in planning terms whether it will be blue land or within the red land. He added that in his opinion as you are not applying for any development on that, and you are planting it up it does not need planning consent and therefore does not need to be within the redline. NH stated that his initial comment is that it could be blue land, but the blue land would have to have a baseline calculation for it and that would be the starting point for working out how many credits you are able to provide through the enhancement.