Environment Bank welcomes the opportunity to briefly respond to the Consultation for North Hertfordshire District Council's Local Plan 2011-2031 Proposed Submission Draft. We support Policies SP12: Green infrastructure, biodiversity and landscape, SP14, SP18 and SP19, along with points 4.76, 4.185, 11.38, 11.39 and 11.48, and their requirements for No Net Loss / Net Gain of biodiversity, metric assessments of biodiversity impacts and offsetting to deliver compensation.

About us:
Environment Bank is a private company working to broker biodiversity compensation agreements - offsets - for developers and landowners. We act as impartial advisers to Local Planning Authorities and are experts in biodiversity impact assessment and No Net Loss (NNL) strategies. We have partnerships and support relationships with over 25 LPAs across 15 counties - providing advice on local policies, planning guidance and strategies, together with support in implementation and individual planning cases. We have seen biodiversity No Net Loss, Net Gain and offset policies be adopted in Local Plans across the country.

Working on individual developments on behalf of developers and planning authorities we calculate the biodiversity impacts and enhancements of development proposals using approved Government metrics, determining residual biodiversity losses, if any, and proposing offset solutions. Our ecological experts then match a developer's compensation requirement with sites put forward by landowners and conservationists who undertake biodiversity enhancements on their land to generate conservation credits available as compensation. Offset schemes must be the right type of site, of the right size, in the right place, at the right time, for the right cost. Credits are sold in exchange for the creation or enhancement of habitats, generating biodiversity gain. Thereafter, legal and fiscal systems assure planning authorities that such compensation measures have been arranged independently and delivery will be overseen and guaranteed in the long-term, providing net biodiversity gain across a district.