The government is considering the future of BNG following consultations held over the summer.  

The LI acknowledges the challenges faced by small-scale developers, and that a simplification of the tool when calculating BNG requirements for small developments is required. However, exemptions for smaller schemes is perhaps not the right approach. 

• Minor developments have a significant cumulative impact on habitat linkage and green infrastructure (GI) networks. Exempting these sites will fundamentally undermine biodiversity objectives and negatively impact the UK’s already depleted natural and ecological systems. 

• Every site has the potential to contribute to BNG. An exemption would have a substantial impact on already fragmented urban areas, with detrimental social and wellbeing consequences. 

• Exempting minor developments will fundamentally undermine the power of BNG to unlock private investment to drive nature recovery, local employment and economic growth. 

• Voters across the political spectrum say that green space is what they care about most in their local area (More in Common / Wates, November 2025). Exempting minor developments will significantly diminish the ability of BNG to deliver tangible improvements to local people and places.  

To keep BNG moving forward and helping the government meet its ambitions across social and environmental agendas, the LI advocates for: 

• A simplification of the tool for developers to enable easier access to habitat banks and GI pipelines to reduce costs and admin. 

• A clear framework guided by a hierarchy of ecological sensitivity, drawing on habitat management and monitoring plans. 

• A more nuanced, site-specific approach to the measurement of ecological impact, combining area with essential ecological criteria. Area alone is an insufficient measure.  

• An extension of the de minimis threshold for very small developments to 50sq metres, under these conditions.  

Webinar: Resilience through BNG? What we have learned in England 

To find out more about our work on BNG, join the Trees and Design Action Group seminar, ‘Resilience through BNG? What have we learned in England – a two-year review’ on 9 December 2025.  

Chair: Tracy Whitfield, Technical Manager, Landscape Institute.  

Panel: 

• Nick White, Principal Adviser – Net Gain, Natural England (confirmed) 

• Andy Hirons, Director at Urban Plant Lab and a Senior Lecturer in Arboriculture and Urban Forestry at University Centre Myerscough 

• Neil Beamsley, Group Head of Biodiversity, Bellway 
   

Partners: Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management, Institute of Chartered Foresters, Landscape Institute, Royal Institute of British Architects, Town and Country Planning Association 

Image: View of The Canal Quarter from the east. Taken in August 2025 by David Millington. Copyright AtkinsRéalis