Biodiversity Duty Report

This section summarises Gateshead Council's performance in delivering Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) during the reporting period from 12 February 2024 to 1st January 2026. The data presented is drawn from approved Biodiversity Gain Plans (BGPs) submitted with planning applications and assessed using the statutory Biodiversity Metric. It includes information on:

• the number of planning permissions requiring BNG and exemptions applied
• how BNG was secured (on-site, off-site, or through statutory credits)
• overall net changes in biodiversity units for habitats, hedgerows and watercourses
• the composition of gains and losses by habitat type; and
• the location of off-site biodiversity units and any use of statutory credits

Data has been collated from Gateshead Council's planning records and BNG monitoring systems, supported by the use of Mycelia software (Mycelia, 2025) for validation, tracking and reporting. This ensures consistency with national requirements under the Environment Act 2021 and provides a clear evidence base for assessing compliance with the council's biodiversity duty.

Activity and approvals

A total of 17 planning permissions required BNG during the reporting period. A further 138 permissions, that would otherwise be required to provide a 10% net gain in biodiversity, were exempt from mandatory BNG.

_{Figure 1: Gateshead planning permissions requiring Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) versus exemptions, 12 Feb 2024 - 1 Jan 2026. Data shows 17 permissions requiring BNG (≈11%) and 138 permissions exempt (≈89%). Source: Gateshead Council BNG dataset.}

How BNG was secured

A total of six Biodiversity Gain Plans (BGPs) were approved by Gateshead Council during the reporting period. Of these approved BGPs, 66.7% achieved BNG on‑site only (4 BGPs); 16.7% used a mix of on‑site and off‑site units (1 BGP); and 16.7% combined on‑site units with statutory credits (1 BGP). No BGPs relied solely on off‑site units or solely on statutory credits.

_{Figure 2: Gateshead Biodiversity Gain Plans (BGPs) securing BNG, 12 Feb 2024 - 1 Jan 2026. Data shows four BGPs securing BNG through on-site units only (66.67%), 1 BGP securing BNG through on-site and off-site units (16.67%) and 1 BGP securing BGP through on-site and statutory credits (16.67).}

Overall net outcomes (all approved BGPs)

Area habitats: net gain +0.420 units (approx. +12.4% including credits), with 0.34 units being on-site gains (10.13%).

Hedgerows: net gain +0.033 units (approx. +17.9% including credits) with 0.012 units being on-site gains (6.56%).

Watercourses: no recorded change in units.

_{Figure 3: Gateshead Biodiversity Gain Plans (BGPs) securing BNG, 12 Feb 2024 - 1 Jan 2026. Data shows on-site changes in habitat area biodiversity units and hedgerow biodiversity units between pre and post-development. (DEFRA, 2023; Natural England, 2023) (Gateshead Council, 2026c)}

_{Figure 4: Composition of biodiversity gains, 12 Feb 2024 - 1 Jan 2026. Data shows pre-development biodiversity units split between habitat types and post-development biodiversity units.}

Hedgerows and lines of trees

Overall hedgerow units increased (+0.012 units), driven by gains in native hedgerow (+0.0965 units, +0.05 km); however, total length decreased slightly (-0.0225 km), mainly due to reductions in non‑native ornamental hedgerows.

Use and location of off‑site units

A small volume of off‑site units was recorded (~0.087 units in total), all located outside the LPA/NCA and neighbouring areas (100% of off‑site units).

Irreplaceable habitat

No approved plans recorded negative impacts on irreplaceable habitats.

Monitoring and enforcement data

No monitoring of BNG outcomes has been undertaken to date.