East Suffolk Council
Investing in biodiversity with first registered habitat banks
An area of farmland is helping to benefit local wildlife by hosting one of East Suffolk’s first two Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) habitat banks.
Alongside Bridge Farm, in Brandeston – and following legal agreement with East Suffolk Council – Darsham Old Hall has been added to a national register of sites available to help developers meet net gain biodiversity commitments.
Working with consultants Nature Based Farming, landowners Julian and Hannah Young established the 20-hectare ‘habitat bank’ to promote long-term biodiversity management while securing a reliable source of additional income.
The initiative provides a ready-made, strategically located bank of 58 units for developers to meet their statutory planning obligation to provide a minimum 10% biodiversity net gain by funding habitat creation and enhancement.
The mandatory 10% minimum requirement was brought into force last February as a condition to leave biodiversity in a measurably better state than before development goes ahead. It can be delivered via habitat creation on a development site – through green spaces such as woodland and wildflower meadows – or via local off-site banks of units like Old Hall.
Located on former arable farmland, the BNG habitat bank has been taking shape at Old Hall since 2023 as part of a programme of habitat restoration and enhancement, including the creation of significant new habitat by adding a mile of hedging and 3,000 native trees, allowing other areas go to scrub, and introducing three longhorn cattle to open up previously dense tracts of woodland to natural light and improve biodiversity.
Cllr Sally Noble, East Suffolk Council’s Cabinet member for the Environment, said:
“We always support and advise developers on delivering the required 10% BNG on site. Due to various reasons, it’s not always possible, and that’s where off-site BNG comes in.
“This approach allows us to create a bank of habitats before the loss of any nature caused by development. If developers are unable to create or enhance wildlife on-site, they can still support biodiversity in the district through a habitat bank, where the land can be restoratively farmed and actively managed over the long term.
“It’s an innovative way of collaborating with local landowners to play a key role in achieving sustainable development goals by helping to ensure that developments contribute positively to our environment.”
Cllr Mark Packard, Cabinet member for Planning and Coastal Management, said:
“I’m delighted that we have been able to secure Section 106 agreements to secure delivery of biodiversity requirements and allow our first two habitat banks to be officially listed on Natural England’s national BNG register.
“We need to build 916 homes a year in East Suffolk to catch up with current demand and it’s important that any development contributes positively to the local environment.”
Julian Young, of Darsham Old Hall, said:
“People need houses. Nature needs unspoilt space. Those two facts cannot – and must not – be mutually exclusive.
“As we build houses, we have to carve out space for the natural world, and this can only happen if the economics work. Biodiversity net gain sites like Darsham Old Hall go some way to making this possible.”
Nature Based Farming founder, Pete Thompson said:
“Nature recovery and food production does not have to be a binary choice. Nature Based Farming uses a complementary approach that restores habitats while continuing to produce food. Darsham Old Hall is an excellent example, combining the production of walnuts and cobnuts with the return of large herbivores to the land to support our habitat management approach.”
If you are developer looking to purchase Biodiversity Units for your development, or a landowner interested in setting up a BNG Habitat Bank, please contact the ESC Ecology team at ecology@eastsuffolk.gov.uk for more details.