Test Valley LPA BNG

Test Valley runs from the edge of Southampton in the south towards Newbury in the north, with Andover and Romsey as its two main towns. The River Test, a chalk river designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, is the borough’s centrepiece, and the North Wessex Downs lie north of Andover. A small section of the New Forest National Park falls at the southern end. Statutory nature designations cover only about 3% of the borough, but include Mottisfont Bats Special Area of Conservation and Emer Bog Special Area of Conservation. The borough council manages 17 wildlife sites, including recovering chalk grassland at Bury Hill and Harewood Common in Andover.

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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. Test Valley Borough Council’s guidance sets the national minimum of 10%, measured with the statutory biodiversity metric, and accepts on-site gains, registered off-site units and government statutory credits, with habitat improvements secured for at least 30 years. It points developers to government guidance rather than to a local Supplementary Planning Document. The adopted plan is the Revised Local Plan 2011-2029, and a new Local Plan is in preparation.

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Nutrient neutrality is the main local constraint. Almost the whole borough drains through the River Test and River Itchen catchments to the Solent, so new homes and overnight accommodation have had to show nutrient neutrality since Natural England’s advice of June 2019. Only the Shipton Bellinger and Cholderton area sits in the Hampshire Avon catchment instead. The council’s guidance recognises that BNG units can be combined, or "stacked", with nutrient mitigation, so a scheme here often has to plan for both.