08 - Land use and ecology

Compensating for habitat loss – Habitat type - KBCN1772

When compensating for habitat loss, any habitat type lost should be compensated for by the same habitat type. This is to ensure that it is capable of supporting the species affected by the habitat loss resulting from the development.

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Ecological Clerk of Works - KBCN1771

If the project is using the comprehensive route to assess the ecological value of the site but the site has a low ecological value (for example, if it is mainly hardstanding), hiring an Ecological Clerk of Works may be an unnecessary cost for the developer. If the appointed SQE confirms that it is unnecessary to hire an Ecological Clerk of Works, then the requirements for the foundation route (nominating a biodiversity champion) can be applied, whilst still following the comprehensive route.  

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Statutory Biodiversity Metric – Lowest percentage score - KBCN1773

When the Statutory Biodiversity Metric is used to calculate how many credits are awarded for an issue, the output with the lowest percentage score of the three outputs (habitats, watercourses and hedgerows) is used. In cases where the SQE has confirmed that there is no opportunity to enhance or create new habitat to increase the score, this requirement can be relaxed for the hedgerow and watercourse metrics (as these are usually those that are more difficult to compensate for). This exception is only applicable if on-site enhancement is used exclusively. If off-site enhancement is used, then the output with the worst score should be used.

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