Planning and biodiversity

Our vision statement for biodiversity:
  • To conserve, enhance and create a living landscape that encourages and supports existing biodiversity
  • To reverse the decline of species and remove threats to them
  • To provide opportunities for wildlife to establish and prosper
  • To increase people's understanding of, appreciation of, and sense of responsibility for nature

Protecting wildlife

There is a raft of legislation and planning guidance to help ensure that wildlife is protected. Some of the many species that receive legal protection include:

  • Otters
  • Bats
  • Great crested newts
  • Badgers
  • Dormice

Biodiversity is also given some protection through the planning system and every department within South Gloucestershire Council must "...have regard...to the purpose of conserving biological diversity" (section 40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act of 2006).

Protecting specific sites

The South Gloucestershire Local Plan protects sites of international importance and Sites of Special Scientific Interest.

In addition, the best examples of wildlife habitats, populations of rare species and geological features are designated as Sites of Regional and Local Nature Conservation Interest.

We have also created Local Nature Reserves to give people the opportunity to get closer to nature and learn about wildlife.

Natural Environment and Rural Communites Act

Under the Natural Environment & Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006 public authorities now have a legal responsibility to conserve biodiversity. This new legal responsibility towards biodiversity lies with the Council as a whole, with the environment department taking a lead.

This duty is set out in Section 40 of the Act which states that:-

‘Every public authority must, in exercising its functions, have regard, so far as is consistent with the proper exercise of those functions, to the purpose of conserving biodiversity’.

 

Planning

We have recently published guidance on 'Biodiversity and the planning process' - see the attached pdf under 'Read more' - accessible by clicking the box on the right-hand side of the page. We hope to take this forward as a supplementary planning document. 

We are also currently working on draft supplementary planning documents on 'Horses and Development' and 'Hedges and Development'.