Opening the gate into the Biodiversity Net Gain market, H&H Land & Estates supports the complex process of preparing the first Biodiversity Net Gain units for sale in Northumberland.
Supporting a landowner through the process of preparing a 13-acre field near Corbridge for the Biodiversity Net Gain market, H&H Land & Estates is now bringing Northumberland’s first BNG units to this potentially huge market for sale to North East developers.
Demand for biodiversity units is growing fast, and ultimately the 13-acre field will deliver a total of 33 grassland with high distinctiveness and 2 hedgerow units with a potential market value of between £20k and £30k per unit.
Under the terms of the Environment Act 2021, any commercial or residential developer seeking planning approval from their local authority must demonstrate a minimum 10% biodiversity net gain (BNG) from their development, which must be maintained for a minimum of 30 years.
As an overall improvement in biodiversity can be hard to achieve within the confines of a development site, developers are allowed to effectively buy the equivalent gain in biodiversity from an “off-site” provider. This has resulted in landowners beginning to offer ‘units’ of biodiversity enhancement for sale in a growing BNG market.
Having acquired the grass field at Corbridge in 2015, landowner Christopher Porter first approached H&H Land & Estates to help with an application to the Countryside Stewardship scheme. As that scheme drew to a close, Mr Porter began exploring the possibility of making an application to the Woodland Creation scheme before attending a H&H Land & Estates seminar, where he heard Environmental Specialist, David Morley, explain the potential benefits of managing land to create biodiversity units. He decided to go in this direction instead. As Christopher Porter explains: “I realised that potentially this could be more lucrative and less intrusive if I abandoned the proposed woodland scheme and instead went down the route of converting my lowland hay meadow from poor condition to good condition, and at the same time plant a new hedgerow. To do this, we needed to have a baseline survey, and David Morley came at short notice to do the survey in the summer of 2023.
“At that stage, BNG had not been formally introduced and it was not until February this year that it finally became law. In parallel to this, it became evident that we needed to sell the units we were going to create. H&H supported us in marketing the units in parallel with the application, and they undertook the changes required to the BNG paperwork when the government changed its guidance.
“An essential step in this process involved establishing a ‘metric’ for the present and potential future environmental value of the land. This involved the team at H&H Land & Estates entering baseline survey data into a complex spreadsheet and identifying the environmental enhancements that could realistically be achieved. Their ecological knowledge and experience was invaluable in explaining what would need to be done on the ground to improve the environmental condition of the meadow.
“We had to convert a Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan (HMMP) from our version to the Natural England template. This was more complicated, but I was fully supported by the H&H team.
H&H were also extremely helpful managing the vitally important metric which had iterations too. Once completed, I progressed a Section 106 agreement with Northumberland County Council (NCC). Essentially this is a promise to carry out the work and maintain it for a 30 year period. The county ecologist, who has been my liaison and has been exceedingly helpful was engaged, visited the site and offered constructive comments. Muckles, the lawyers then provided pragmatic and timely support with the NCC legal services team.
“With the S106, the HMMP and the metric in place you are then ready to apply to Natural England to register biodiversity units. Developers can now search the Register and will see the habitat units being created – the first in Northumberland.”
For this landowner, however, although the initial appeal of the BNG market was the value of the unit sales as a replacement for dwindling BPS payments, the environmental upside has proved to be just as important.
“I think this is a great scheme, and I am a believer that if we can do anything to combat global warming and encourage wildlife, it has to be a good thing. What I also think is important is that we will continue to farm the land, to improve from a lowland meadow in poor condition to good condition. We are reseeding the land with wildflower seeds from Rothbury, and we are planning a new hedgerow. We will use no fertiliser and the additional meadow flowers will improve the biodiversity, attracting more pollinators and the subsequent followers in the food chain. There is a public footpath through the field, which will allow people to walk through what will be a wonderfully biodiverse meadow.
“The process has been quite long and drawn out, but I wanted to be as closely involved in it as possible, and the H&H Land & Estates team has been happy for me to do the work I can do while they handle the technical side of the business in a hands-on way, supporting my work in the background.
“Teamwork has been the key to success, and I would like to thank the many people who have pulled this together, including H&H Land & Estates, Muckles and the Northumberland County Council ecologist whose sympathetic support has been vital to making this happen. The best advice I can give anyone going down this route is to accept that it will take a lot of time and patience, and to get the best professional support available.”
For H&H Land & Estates Managing Director, Tim Sedgewick, achieving the first BNG site in Northumberland has been a pioneering process made possible by the trust and active involvement of the landowner, Muckles Solicitors and Northumberland County Council, and by the dedication of the H&H Land & Estates team.
“This is a very complex process, and as our client had made his commitment to pursue this route so early, we had to adapt to significant changes in the rules as we went along. However, the client was absolutely determined to achieve the registration of this first site, not just for financial gain but for the benefit of the environment and the local community.
“We are delighted that we have helped to get this over the finish line for this client, and we are looking forward to completing the sale of units on this land and helping other landowners to achieve the same success in tapping into the BNG market.”