E&I Committee members agree to adopt revised Biodiversity Planning Guidance (BPG)

Following a 12-week public consultation, the Highland Council’s revised Biodiversity Planning Guidance (BPG) was today (2 May 2024) formally adopted as non-statutory planning guidance, following agreement by Members of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee. 

The (BPG) aims to provide clarity and certainty for applicants and agents and sets out what supporting information is required to demonstrate the conservation, restoration, and enhancement of biodiversity as required by National Planning Framework 4. 

Chair of Highland Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Ken Gowans, said: “This guidance will enable Highland Council’s planners to take a consistent, fair, transparent, proportionate, and balanced approach to enabling biodiversity to be conserved, restored, and enhanced.” 

Cllr Gowans added: “The twin climate and nature crises are interlinked and reinforcing; a decline in biodiversity will exacerbate the climate crisis, and a changing climate will accelerate the rate of biodiversity loss. 

“Implementing the Biodiversity Planning Guidance to secure positive effects for biodiversity (as required by the Planning (Scotland) Act 2019 and policies of NPF4) the Council will make a significant and meaningful contribution to Net Zero and nature restoration targets and align with the local authority’s declaration of a climate and ecological emergency back in 2019.” 

The key points from the consultation, the majority of which were incorporated into the revised draft, can be seen at Item 13 of this report and the final draft can also be seen under the same item at Appendix 1.