City of Bristol LPA BNG

Bristol packs a working harbour, a hidden river and some of the West of England’s best-known nature reserves into just 110 square kilometres. The River Frome runs in the open at Snuff Mills and through Eastville Park, then disappears into Victorian culverts for most of its route through the city centre, resurfacing briefly near St Jude’s before rejoining the Avon. Blaise Castle Estate and the Bristol side of the Avon Gorge sit at either end of an otherwise densely built city, forming two of its largest habitat networks.

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Biodiversity Net Gain became a legal requirement for major developments in England on 12 February 2024, and for small sites on 2 April 2024. Bristol City Council has not adopted a BNG Supplementary Planning Document, so developers here work to national policy and the statutory biodiversity metric, with the 10% minimum as the benchmark.

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Space is the defining constraint. With little room for on-site habitat creation in the city centre, off-site biodiversity units and habitat banks across the wider West of England carry most of the load for Bristol developments.