This is crazy!

I’d never heard of this so I googled. Crazy indeed!

Not just the price but the intracis of the form, the information and action required to get this passed.

It’s going to bring to a halt many small scale community projects like yours, that are run by volunteers.

Id definitely be writing to my MP!

I’m sure you’ve already looked at trimming a bit ff to bring it in under the 25sq metres. Narrower?

Or if you made the existing tarmac part of the path, fencing it with a planter or something would that bring the verge bit is under regulation?

It doesn't have to cost that much. There are easy to use software tools for a third of the price, this for example:

www.joesblooms.com/

Watch the video presentation here:

Introduction to Joe's Blooms Biodiversity Net Gain Tool

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9F_YUytiHg

Why not contact them to see how they can help?

I have no affiliation to this company. I simple found it when searching for information on the BNG process.

Is this a charitable trust which owns it or the LA or Parish Council?

If it is the LA or Parish Council they have a duty of care and should install this for you free of charge.

If a charitable trust, could you ask the Lottery Fund Awards to pay or for a contribution towards this on the grounds of Health and Safety?

This all seems over-the-top bureaucracy!

It is charity registered and a CIC.

We've had quite a bit from lottery already - £1 million for the original build! (it's a very special passiv house building) - and other bits after that. I think we have exhausted that pot for now.

Looking it up it looks as though the BNG process might change next year - hopefully in our favour - so we may just have to wait.

🤞 it will change.

Quite disheartening to come up against petty bureaucracy when you are trying to do the right thing to keep people safe.

Just go ahead and do it?

Aveline

Just go ahead and do it?

Noooooo! If some awful jobsworths checks there will an order to rip it down and then there will be no work completed AND no money!

Now you have made the application you either abandon it or go ahead, don't do it without approval now

It's all part of the government drive to reduce red tape

I bet you'd get away with it. If it came to the attention of 'the authorities' they'd have a hard time publicly justifying the removal of a safety rail. Imagine what the media would make of it...

We have not made the application yet - a planning guy visited to advise (free).

I think we will have to bide our time and hope no-one gets mown down during the dark nights.

Would the path go up the side of the existing drive, ie use part of it, or have to use some extra land?

That looks great Graphite...
And such a straightforward video too.

NotSpaghetti

That looks great Graphite...
And such a straightforward video too.

From just £495, complete BNG yourself today

Better still if you have someone involved who can do it free of charge. This is a charitable trust running the hall.

If there's a drive are you allowed to simply "road-mark" a path?
No bio changes there.

...Is that what you meant Allira?

There are lots of grants available other than the Lottery. Our hall has had help from FCc Landfill Community grants, our Parish Council and a local charity.. it is worth having a search, some small charity funds are the least difficult with less red tape.
I will be looking into this regulation as I had never heard of it, It is interesting to me As I help run our hall and we are currently putting in extra parking spaces.

NotSpaghetti

That looks great Graphite...
And such a straightforward video too.

Exactly, NS. It explains very clearly what it is necessary and how it can be achieved. It may just be a case of some planting elsewhere on the site to balance whatever biodiversity is lost by concreting over the verge and adding a little more hence the gain part.

My own parish council are very mindful of this when managing the green space around our community hall. Extra parking spaces or other proejcts = more planting elsewhere on the site.

Over the years this has included a new woodland, sensory and wildlife gardens, planters outside the building itself and new trees sponsored by families and tagged as such. The latter was the BNG part of a project to put in a cycle track for the little ones.

It’s become an annual thing for families to photograph their growing child beside their growing tree for a feature in the parish magazine.

Most of the work has been paid for with local grants.

It depends on the size of the site, though.

25 square metres is the cut off - seems very low to me. I can understand it might apply to building a house or a car park, but I was very surprised it applies to a small path.

Gin

There are lots of grants available other than the Lottery. Our hall has had help from FCc Landfill Community grants, our Parish Council and a local charity.. it is worth having a search, some small charity funds are the least difficult with less red tape.
I will be looking into this regulation as I had never heard of it, It is interesting to me As I help run our hall and we are currently putting in extra parking spaces.

Unless they are very small parking places (less than 25 square metres) and are over land that is already rubble or tarmac then you might get clobbered by this too. I find it extraordinary that our tiny strip of land along a verge by a drive up to the hall would be covered by this tariff.

Luckygirl3

Gin

There are lots of grants available other than the Lottery. Our hall has had help from FCc Landfill Community grants, our Parish Council and a local charity.. it is worth having a search, some small charity funds are the least difficult with less red tape.
I will be looking into this regulation as I had never heard of it, It is interesting to me As I help run our hall and we are currently putting in extra parking spaces.

Unless they are very small parking places (less than 25 square metres) and are over land that is already rubble or tarmac then you might get clobbered by this too. I find it extraordinary that our tiny strip of land along a verge by a drive up to the hall would be covered by this tariff.

It's petty bureaucracy.

I suppose we are losing habitat inch by inch.
This is why small areas are still important. Little wildlife bridges.

Submit a proposal drawn to show a path that occupies an area of 24 Sq M.

Adjust reality later.

NotSpaghetti

I suppose we are losing habitat inch by inch.
This is why small areas are still important. Little wildlife bridges.

Yes I do get that. But the area in question has little value as wildlife habitat.