Biodiversity net gain plans in Kingston upon Thames

Trees, Green Belt and large gardens

The borough has 7,145 tree preservation zones, and 17 per cent of its area is Green Belt. Domestic gardens account for 30.9 per cent of land.

Taken together, those figures mean that a typical Kingston site has a real habitat baseline: mature trees, long lawns and boundary hedges. A garden infill house is therefore counted against a generous starting value, and the gain needed can be substantial.

Near the river and the Green Belt edge, we also look for wildlife corridors and bat roosting potential, since a loft or roof change there may need an ecological assessment as well as the checklist.

The riverside and the parks along it matter too. A plot beside open water or a nature area can sit inside a wildlife corridor, and an officer will ask whether new lighting or a basement could cut across it. We answer that on the checklist, not later by letter.

Householder, small site or full plan

Extensions and loft conversions are householder cases and exempt from the gain condition. A new home on 0.2 hectares or less is exempt too, unless priority habitat is affected. Below 25 square metres of habitat the de minimis rule applies.

Since large gardens are common here, garden-land development is the main route into a full plan. A new dwelling that takes more than the small-site area, or touches a protected hedgerow or orchard, falls outside the exemptions.

Where a plan is needed we measure baseline parcels, draw the proposed habitat and write the maintenance notes for the required 30 years.

Exemptions are the part most often misread. They do not remove the need to tell the council why one applies, and on a garden plot the small-site test depends on the red-line area, not the size of the house. We measure that area from the survey before we say a word about exemption.

Fitting the plan to the planning file

Householder applications here are granted 83 per cent of the time, but minor applications, which include a new dwelling, are granted 64.9 per cent across 251 decisions. The gap argues for a complete ecology package from day one.

Our planning drawings carry the checklist, and a refused scheme can be taken on through our planning appeals service.

Because a refusal on a garden-land scheme often turns on character and ecology together, we write the biodiversity evidence so that it can also be used at appeal without redrafting. A second chartered technologist checks it before submission.

Price and next step

There is no list price. The work depends on the parcels and any survey, so you get a fixed quote after a free constraints check.

Send the address and a note of what you want to build, and we will tell you whether a checklist is enough or a full plan is required.

If you already hold an ecology report from a previous owner or an earlier scheme, send it as well. We will say whether its findings still describe the plot or whether a fresh visit is needed before the checklist is signed.