Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA

Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]

 

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DEAR S Downes

 

Freedom of information request - FOI/8094

 

Subject: Biodiversity net gain

Your request is being considered and you will receive a response within
the statutory timescale of 20 working days, subject to the application of
any exemptions. Where consideration is being given to exemptions the 20
working day timescale may be extended to a period considered reasonable
depending on the nature and circumstances of your request. In such cases
you will be notified and, where possible, a revised time-scale will be
indicated. In all cases we shall attempt to deal with your request at the
earliest opportunity.

If we are unable to provide you with the information requested we will
notify you of this together with the reason(s) why, and details of how you
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Please note that the directorate team may contact you for further
information where we believe that the request is not significantly clear
for us to respond fully. 

Kind Regard

Information Management Team

 

Croydon Digital Services

Assistant Chief Executive Directorate

 

7th Floor, Zone B

Bernard Weatherill House

8 Mint Walk

Croydon CR0 1EA

Information Team Croydon
Digital Services
Assistant Chief Executive Directorate
Bernard Wetherill House
7th Floor, Zone B
Croydon
CR0 1EA

Contact: Information Team
[Croydon Borough Council request email]

 

Dear S Downes

Request FOI/8094

Further to your request received on 16/08/2023, I confirm that the Council
has now considered your request under the Environmental Information
Regulations. For ease of reference, I will now address each of your
questions in turn.

 

Please outline all measures - in terms of advice issued to developers,
staff recruited - taken by the LB of Croydon to ensure full and proper
implementation of new Bio Diversity Net Gain planning requirements.

With recent increased government funding the Council is now identifying
expert ecological resource to help further explore a cohesive management
plan for BNG and wider implementation, including through the Development
Management process.

With regards development, the Council is are currently reviewing Local
Plan 2018, namely in regards to the chapter on Green Infrastructure and
the need for capturing BNG policy. The review of the Local Plan is
anticipated to be published in early 2024.

BNG (and UGF) requirements are stipulated in Pre-App discussions on all
Major Development. Non-major will be captured in the new year in line with
NPPF policy.

Please provide the name of the official and the job title of the person
responsible for achieving the mandatory 10% BNG for every development
site.

LBC BNG leads are Lucy Page and Matthew Conlon-Perry from the Development
Management and Placemaking teams. ([1][email address] /
[2][email address]).

What work has the planning department already undertaken to ensure that
developers are properly compliant with the new requirements on their
sites?

A number of staff have already attended internal and external training
sessions via Natural England, TDAG and Urban Design London. We continue to
identify and utilise different external avenues for training for the
entire Development Management (planning) and Spatial Planning Services.

Can you give examples of any schemes submitted for planning approval that
have already been declined for failure to meet BNG legal requirements?

Applications are determined on an individual site context basis, where
applications are unable to meet the minimum 10% BNG uplift on site, policy
requires applicants to offset BNG elsewhere in the borough, failing this
the applicant can buy Government BNG credits. To date BNG is being met in
accordance with policy for Major Development.

 

The Council publishes Access to Information requests and responses on its
online Disclosure Log. (Any request included within this log will be
anonymised appropriately)

To view the Council’s Disclosure Log, please visit our website available
here:

[3]The Freedom of Information (FOI) Act | Croydon Council
(disclosure-log.co.uk)

 

If you are dissatisfied with the way the Council has handled your request
under the Environmental Information Regulations you may ask for an
internal review. This should be submitted to us within 40 working days of
this response. You can do this by outlining the details of your complaint
by:

 

Email:        [4][Croydon Borough Council request email]

 

Writing:     Information Team

London Borough of Croydon

Bernard Weatherill House

Floor 7 - Zone B

8 Mint Walk

Croydon, CR0 1EA

 

Any requests received after the 40 working day time limit will be
considered only at the discretion of the council.

 

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review, you have
the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a
decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire, SK9 5AF

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Information Team

Croydon Digital Services

Assistant Chief Executive Directorate

Bernard Wetherill House,

Mint Walk,

Croydon,

CR0 1EA

 

 

[5][Croydon Borough Council request email]

[6][email address]

 

References

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