Regulation 4 De minimis exemptionI1

England and Wales

(1)

The biodiversity gain planning condition does not apply in relation to planning permission for development which meets the first and second conditions.

(2)

The first condition is that the development does not impact an onsite priority habitat.

(3)

The second condition is that the development impacts—

(a)

less than 25 square metres of onsite habitat that has biodiversity value^f1 greater than zero; and

(b)

less than 5 metres in length of onsite linear habitat.

(4)

For the purposes of this regulation—

(a)

“priority habitat” means a habitat specified in a list published under section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006^f2;

(b)

a habitat is impacted where the habitat is lost or degraded such that there is a decrease in the biodiversity value of that habitat;

(c)

“linear habitat” means the types of hedgerow habitat or watercourse habitat identified for the purposes of the biodiversity metric^f3 (which are measured by length (expressed in kilometres) rather than area).

Annotations

Commencement

I1: Reg. 4 in force at 12.2.2024, see reg. 1(2)

Footnotes

f1: See paragraph 3 of Schedule 7A to the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 for the definition of “biodiversity value”.
f2: 2006 c. 16; see the list published at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/habitats-and-species-of-principal-importance-in-england. A hard copy of the list is available from the DEFRA Helpline address given at the end of the explanatory note below.
f3: See paragraph 4 of Schedule 7A to the Town and Country Panning Act 1990.