South Kesteven District Council to vote on new scheme for developers to meet biodiversity requirements off-site at Boothby Wildlands habitat bank near Grantham

Developers may soon contribute to a local nature project when they can’t improve their own sites if plans are approved.

South Kesteven District Council’s planning committee will consider a Section 106 agreement to secure land at Boothby Wildlands, near Grantham, at a meeting today (Thursday, September 5).

Boothby Wildland Limited is creating a habitat bank where developers unable to meet on-site biodiversity net gain (BNG) can buy 'units' to fulfil their legally-binding environmental obligations.

Developers must achieve a 10% biodiversity net gain, preferably on-site, but can buy off-site units if needed.

Boothby Wildland will set aside 64.6 hectares for 30 years at Exton’s Wood, Ark Field, Witherns, and Kirkhill for developers to purchase units.

If approved, it will be one of the first sites in Lincolnshire to offer habitat banks to local developers.

Ivan de Klee, head of natural capital at Nattergal, said: “This is really quite an exciting moment.

“It’s a powerful piece of legislation that will both mitigate the impact of development and enable necessary building to go ahead for housing and other infrastructure.”

The scheme promotes local biodiversity net gain (BNG) by discouraging developers from buying units far from their development sites.

A Defra calculator assesses lost biodiversity and informs developers what needs to be replaced.

Boothby Wildlands’ habitat banks include grass, scrub, ponds, and woodland to meet various needs.

“The exciting thing is that this is enabling nature recovery in the local landscape,” said Ivan.

“It’s another tool in the box for delivering biodiversity net gain.”

Boothby Wildland spans 617 hectares of grade 3 soil and aims to rewild farmland.

The company has started sowing wildflowers and creating habitats but cannot sell units until the agreement is signed next week.

The project is also piloting landscape recovery schemes under Defra’s Environmental Land Management Scheme, which supports farmers post-Brexit.

Other projects on the land include exploring natural flood management with the Environment Agency and creating woodland through carbon sequestration payments.

Under the Section 106 agreement, Boothby Wildland will follow a habitat management and monitoring plan (HMMP) to ensure proper land management for biodiversity for the next 30 years.

The council will monitor compliance, with Boothby Wildland paying a £35,000 fee, and possibly more, to cover costs.