25 Green infrastructure, biodiversity and geodiversity

25 Green infrastructure, biodiversity and geodiversity

National policy

25.1 NPPF supports planning policies that contribute to and enhance the natural and local environment and states that plans should specifically protect and enhance biodiversity and geodiversity. NPPF paragraph 192 promotes the conservation, restoration and enhancement of priority habitats, ecological networks and the protection and recovery of priority species, and the need to identify and pursue opportunities for securing measurable net gains for biodiversity. 

25.2 The Environment Act (2021) prioritises clear statutory national targets for environmental recovery, prioritising four areas – air quality, biodiversity, water quality and waste. It strengthens the biodiversity duty on local authorities to conserve and enhance biodiversity.  The Act also called for local recovery strategies for all areas in England – The Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) defines priorities for nature’s recovery and maps the most valuable areas for nature proposals for creating or improving habitat for nature. The act legislated the mandatory need for biodiversity net gain (BNG) - the biodiversity value of proposed developments to exceed the pre-development biodiversity value of the onsite habit by at least 10%. 

25.3 Natural England’s Green Infrastructure Standards (2023) define what good green infrastructure ‘looks like’ for local planners. The standards help deliver the 15 Green Infrastructure Principles and aid planning strategically to deliver multiple benefits for people and nature. 

25.4 The highest national environmental designations in the UK, alongside National Parks, are Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), Sites of Significant Scientific Interest (SSSI), National Nature Reserves, and Heritage Coasts. Cheshire West and Chester has no National Parks or AONB’s but has 28 Sites of Special Scientific Interest; 443 Local Wildlife Sites; 39 Areas of Nature Conservation Value; 6 Local Nature Reserves; 6159 hectares of woodland and 31 Biodiversity Action Plan habitats. Cheshire West and Chester also has several Natural 2000 sites within the borough, these include Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation and Ramsar sites.

Evidence base

Key issues

  • Delivering mandatory 10% biodiversity net gain is not included in current Local Plan policy. 
  • Emergence of Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) – Not included in current Local Plan policy and how the emerging LNRS interacts with the borough's ecological network. 
  • Interaction between current Local Plan (Part Two) policy DM 44 mitigation hierarchy and BNG mitigation hierarchy - first step keeping biodiversity in Cheshire West and Chester, and the second step expanding to the wider LNRS area.
  • Ensuring biodiversity compensation is delivered within Cheshire West and Chester.
  • Whether existing Local Plan policy goes far enough with requirements relating to biodiversity, geodiversity and green infrastructure following the Council's declared climate emergency and considerable national losses to biodiversity.

Current adopted policy

Local Plan

Policy reference

Policy summary

Local Plan (Part One)

ENV 3 Green infrastructure

Supports the creation, enhancement, protection and management of a network of high-quality multi-functional green infrastructure by incorporating new/enhancing green infrastructure in new development and increasing tree and woodland planting.

Local Plan (Part One)

ENV 4 Biodiversity and geodiversity

Aims to safeguard and enhance biodiversity and geodiversity, there should be no net loss of natural assets and that new development should seek to provide net gains within the borough's designated site network.

Local Plan (Part Two)

DM 44 Protecting and enhancing the natural environment

Supports development where there is no net loss of natural assets and deliver gains, where losses occur, the mitigation hierarchy is applied, with compensatory measures only considered as a last resort. Development impacting protected sites, habitats and species must be accompanied by an Ecological assessment.

Local Plan (Part Two)

DM 45 Trees, woodland, hedgerows

Supports development where it conserves/ enhances existing trees, woodlands, orchards, hedgerows. Where lost, trees should be replaced at a ratio of 2:1. Supports the aims and policies of the Mersey Forest Plan, the plan areas is shown on the policies map.

Suggested policy approach

25.5 The new Local Plan should support the creation, enhancement and protection of biodiversity, geodiversity and green infrastructure as currently covered in Local Plan (Part One) policies ENV 3 and ENV 4. 

25.6 The suggested approach is to retain the overall content of Local Plan (Part One) policies ENV 3 and ENV 4  while combining elements of Local Plan (Part Two) policies DM 44 and DM 45 to create a new green infrastructure, biodiversity and nature policy, which includes the protection elements of ENV 4 and DM 44 and the following recommendations  from the Local Nature Recovery Strategy regarding: peat, Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDs), tree cover, hedgerows, invasive species, and agricultural land as set out below.

GI 1

Green infrastructure, biodiversity and geodiversity

The suggested approach is to combine Local Plan (Part One) policies ENV 3 and ENV 4, with elements of Local Plan (Part Two) policies DM 44 and DM 45, to create a single new green infrastructure, biodiversity and nature policy.

The new policy will continue to safeguard and enhance biodiversity, geodiversity, green infrastructure and protect designated sites. Any policy wording should ensure that proposals for new development must:

  1. Not result in any net loss of natural assets and deliver a net gain, in line with national policy. 
  2. Continue to protect designations of international, national and local importance, irreplaceable habitats. 
  3. Continue to protect protected/priority species and geodiversity.
  4. Be accompanied by sufficient information that complies with industry best practice and guidance.

The new policy wording should also remove reference to the Borough’s ecological network and set a focus for contributions to be led by the Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS). 

Biodiversity 

The new policy should detail what is expected in terms of the protection and enhancement of protected sites, habitats and species, to be supported by sufficient information and following the mitigation hierarchy.  

A link to the LNRS will be included with the following outputs providing policy sections:

  1. Local Nature Recovery Network - Ensure that proposals within or adjacent (within a 15 metre buffer) to either areas of opportunity or designated areas identified in the LNRS, developers will need to look at opportunities for nature recovery in line with the LNRS. The Opportunity Areas and Designated Areas will be included as part of the policies map.
  2. Peat - Additional policy wording to include that peat should be protected from disturbance or loss from new development, to avoid the release of carbon into the atmosphere. Development proposals on areas of known or suspected peat will require ground investigation as part of the planning application process. Any peat near to the surface with the potential to be restored must be protected. In areas of deep peat, peatland must be protected from compaction and drying out.
  3. SUDs and Natural Flood management - The new policy will detail the standards and requirements to deliver natural flood management solutions in accordance with the LNRS in order to manage flood risk, enhance biodiversity, improve water quality and promote amenity spaces. This will link to policy approach FW 1 ‘Flood risk and water management’.
  4. Tree cover - The suggested policy approach will retain  parts of Local Plan (Part Two) policy DM 45 relating to the replacement tree ratio and add detail such as tree species and quantity. New policy wording will broaden the current policy approach and improve and maintain tree canopy cover within the borough on a strategic level. This would refer to a ‘league table’ of wards with low tree cover, where development in these wards will need to provide additional green space as would normally be required, with low performing wards prioritised for new tree planting. The aim is to get all wards to a minimum of 16% tree cover.
  5. Hedgerows - The new policy will require that all external edges of all new development have hedgerows as part of a comprehensive landscape scheme, this would be secured with an agreement specifying type/species and nature of hedgerow.
  6. Invasive species - The new policy will provide a list of invasive species that present a risk to local biodiversity, and would require developers to investigate and deal with invasive species where present on new development sites.
  7. Agricultural land - The new Local Plan would seek to discourage the loss of higher grade agricultural land as a result of development. The policy should continue to protect the best and most versatile agricultural land.

Question GI 1

Do you agree with the suggested policy approach towards green infrastructure, biodiversity and geodiversity, as set out in GI 1 ‘Green infrastructure, biodiversity and geodiversity’ above? If not, please suggest how it could be amended?

Question GI 2

Should new development contribute to woodland in Cheshire West and Chester? 5. Is a 2:1 ratio enough for a tree replacement policy? 

Question GI 3

Should new Local Plan policy go above the 10% mandatory biodiversity net gain set nationally?

Question GI 4

What could the new Local Plan do to support the Mersey Forest? 

Question GI 5

Should functionally linked land be covered in new Local Plan policy?