In October 2022 Dorset Council adopted its latest planning validation checklist. In amongst the various requirements was a new provision requiring the sign off of Dorset NET (Natural Environment Team) biodiversity plan certificates before a planning application could be validated.
The initial implication of this change was that planning applications (non-majors) readying for submission last year were delayed pending receipt of the pre-requisite Dorset NET sign off.
The greater implication of this new pre-requisite was felt even more keenly when in early 2023 Dorset NET, taking a narrow interpretation of the Bat Conservation Trust guidelines, began demanding full bat transect and detector surveys prior to certificate sign off on sites where ecology surveys were reporting a low potential for foraging bats to be present; in the words of one ecology consultant this meant “the space above everything, everywhere had to be surveyed despite their opinion that it was not necessary”.
In practice this new demand meant a sudden nine-month hiatus for would-be applicants and the equivalent of ££££ more up-front information simply to get their planning application validated. This narrow interpretation ran contrary to the BCT guidelines which say “if the habitat has been classified as having low suitability for bats, an ecologist should make a professional judgment on how to proceed based on all of the evidence available. It may or may not be appropriate for bat activity surveys to be carried out in low suitability habitats”.
Chapman Lily Planning recently met with senior planning officers from Dorset Council to convey the implications of these approaches by the NET team, and the real-world cost implications to applicants and would-be developers, and we are glad to say that the Council has taken the feedback on board and amended the validation guidance, and said that they are “no longer requiring a Certificate of Approval from the NET team to be issued prior to validation. For those applications currently with the NET team a signed biodiversity plan and the Certificate of Approval from NET will be required before we can make a decision on the application”.
The amended guidance is here: https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/planning-buildings-land/planning/submit-a-planning-application
It is only fair to say that the Council still “strongly recommends that you follow the Dorset Biodiversity Appraisal Protocol and submit your NET signed biodiversity plan and approval certificate with your application at validation”, but there is now scope for departure.
At least now the choice rests with the applicant, to balance against the multitude of often competing demands placed upon them when preparing to submit their planning applications. It’s not often we get a victory for common-sense in planning, but we’ll take this one and would thank officers at Dorset Council for their time in looking at the issue and ultimately their pragmatism.
Steven Bainbridge BSc (Hons) MSc MRTPI Associate Director