Concerns over developers taking advantage of biodiversity credits system - Yorkshire Post Letters

In the piece produced by a third party biodiversity consultant ‘Biodiversity is transforming housing plans’ (The Yorkshire Post, January 18) a positive picture is presented of a planning proposal to require developers to improve biodiversity that sounds good but has many questionable details, some explored by the Oxford Long-Term Ecology Lab.

One issue not explored is the baseline to be used for measuring biodiversity so that it can be retained on site or replaced ‘off site’ – a system of biodiversity credits like the equally questionable carbon credits.

Someone thinking of developing a site can remove trees, hedges, ponds, scrub before the development process begins by having the baseline biodiversity assessment done - lowering their start point.

Once the process is initiated, problems can be seen with the tool. Ragwort and brambles are signs of a degraded habitat and lower the biodiversity base score – ragwort can be poisonous to livestock, but is home and food source to over 100 insect species; bramble provides equally good services to invertebrates which are significant contributors to biodiversity.

A study of those local authorities that have already implemented the process, including Leeds City Council, which at least has a Biodiversity Officer, has raised question over the expertise of assessors, highlighting lack of consensus among experts and the potential for a minor reclassification to give the developer paying for the study a reduced target.

The local authorities themselves lack the expertise to deal with the baseline studies meaningfully, and worst of all the offsetting need not be immediate but promised at some time in the future.

Like so many Government ‘green’ initiatives that sound good there are serious concerns about the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain that must be addressed if developers are not to take advantage of the system.