Working alongside Biodiversity Net Gain provider Environment Bank, the project is a ‘model for local planning authorities collaborating with private firms’.
The town of Hartlepool in North East England needs to build 400 homes a year to catch up with current demand. However, it’s vital these are developed using approaches that positively contribute to the local environment.
Instead of attempting to develop its own Habitat Bank, the authority has instead called upon Environment Bank to secure the necessary Biodiversity Units to comply with Biodiversity Net Gain requirements. The provider will now fund, establish and monitor Hartlepool’s bank of habitat-enriching projects in the long-term.
This included developments by companies including Bellway, Miller homes and Keepmoat, all of which are undertaking projects in the area. Hartlepool Council now says this represents a model for collaborations between local planning authorities and private firms.
‘Ensuring a ready supply of local off-site Biodiversity Units is crucial for unlocking development in Hartlepool,’ said Philip Timmins, Principal Estates Surveyor, Hartlepool Borough Council. ‘Partnering with Environment Bank allows us to meet our housing growth targets while delivering significant environmental benefits – without adding administrative burdens to the council.’
The Habitat Bank is located in the centre of Hartlepool and spans around 35 acres of farmland previously classed as ‘low productivity’. Wildflower meadows, native hedgerows mixed scrubland and ponds, with the focus on boosting numbers of native species – including skylarks, great crested newts, brown hares and pollinating butterflies.
‘Hartlepool Habitat Bank will provide great opportunities for pollenating butterflies and nesting birds. It will also add to the unique mix of biodiversity in Teesside and bring nature closer to those in the community while also retaining the character of the land,’ said Thomas Dodds, Ecologist at Environment Bank.
Hartlepool Habitat Bank is secured under a conservation covenant, a legal mechanism that ensures the land is used to deliver BNG for the mandatory 30-year period, to ensure that the project has an oversight by an independent third party,’ he continued. ‘The annual habitat management payments are funded in advance for the full 30-year project using an evergreen bond provided to Environment Bank by the Gresham House British Sustainable Infrastructure Fund.’
Image: Environment Bank
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