County planning guidance / Lancashire BNG
Biodiversity net gain in Lancashire starts with your site boundary, its habitats and the correct planning authority. Compare local policies, the Lancashire nature recovery map and practical delivery routes across the 12 districts, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen.
ACP helps developers, architects, planners and landowners scope ecological surveys, calculate biodiversity units and prepare planning evidence. Share your red-line plan, planning stage and any existing ecology reports to discuss the next step.
Reviewed 8 November 2026 · Lancashire Local Nature Recovery Strategy
Site boundary / proposal type / current authority
First, a Lancashire postal address does not, by itself, identify the planning authority. Instead, start with the red-line boundary and determine whether the site falls within one of the 12 Lancashire districts or the unitary areas of Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen.
For ordinary planning applications outside the National Park, the relevant district or unitary council usually handles the decision. Meanwhile, Lancashire County Council deals with relevant minerals, waste and other county planning functions, with separate arrangements involving the two unitary areas.
For land inside the Yorkshire Dales National Park extension area, the National Park Authority handles planning. This includes a small part of Lancaster district. Therefore, check the boundary before selecting a council.
The Lancashire BNG planning-route checklist below explains how to check the authority, current adopted policy, statutory exemption position and evidence. It is a practical source finder, not a legal exemption calculator.
In July 2026, the Government proposed reorganising Lancashire into four unitary authorities. However, that decision was paused and withdrawn for further review in autumn 2026. No replacement authority structure had taken effect by 8 November 2026.
Therefore, use the existing district, unitary or National Park authority for your site. Also, check official updates if your project runs over a longer period.
Not necessarily. Lancashire County Council, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen have a joint minerals and waste planning framework. Its adopted Core Strategy dates from 2009, with site allocations and development management policies from 2013.
A revised replacement plan was consulted on during September and October 2026, but it was not adopted as of 8 November 2026. Such proposals should not be treated as current planning policy.
Therefore, for minerals or waste developments, confirm the responsible planning authority and the exact adopted plan before preparing the BNG submission.
Authority / planning route / BNG rules / habitat evidence
First, work through four questions using the true site boundary. Open each step to find the relevant official sources and evidence.
For ordinary proposals outside the National Park, first choose one of the 12 Lancashire districts, or either separate unitary borough. There is no single county-wide ordinary planning Local Plan.
For land inside the Yorkshire Dales National Park extension area, use the National Park Authority. Check the red-line boundary in north-eastern Lancaster.
The proposed four-unitary reorganisation was withdrawn for review in October 2026. These existing planning authorities remain the starting point unless lawfully replaced.
Ordinary schemes follow the correct district or unitary council's adopted development plan and local validation list. Relevant minerals and waste proposals also need the Lancashire joint minerals/waste policy route involving Lancashire County Council, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen.
The currently adopted joint core strategy dates from 2009 and sites/development-management policies from 2013. The replacement revised plan's consultation closed 1 November 2026 and is not adopted.
Confirm the application type and date, red-line area, priority-habitat impacts and any transitional rules. For qualifying applications made from 6 August 2026, a site of 0.2 hectares or less may be exempt where development does not impact on-site priority habitat. Other exemptions are separate.
A BNG exemption does not automatically remove local biodiversity policies, ecological surveys, designated-site duties or protected-species measures. Check the actual council's current validation list for a BNG statement, habitat maps and metric evidence where relevant.
Combine a suitable UKHab baseline, condition surveys, hedgerow and watercourse evidence, the correct statutory metric edition and matching proposed habitat plan. Check actual habitat and legal constraints before relying on a percentage.
Use the published Lancashire Local Nature Recovery Strategy and its Local Habitat Map to examine the mapped measure and ecological fit. The map does not guarantee strategic significance, registered biodiversity units or permission.
Consider a Biodiversity Gain Plan, Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan, appropriate legal securing and registered off-site allocations where required. Significant on-site and off-site gains normally need 30 years' management.
12 district councils / 2 unitary councils
All authorities apply the relevant national statutory BNG framework. However, their adopted plans, supplementary guidance and validation lists differ.
The tables below help you find the correct starting point. They do not replace the actual Local Plan, local validation list or planning officer's case-specific requirements.
| Planning authority | Current adopted plan and key biodiversity policy | Practical check |
|---|---|---|
| Burnley | Burnley’s Local Plan 2012–2032, adopted 2018. NE1 biodiversity and ecological networks. | First, read the council's dedicated BNG validation requirements and its current local list. |
| Chorley | Chorley’s Local Plan adopted 2015, BNE9 biodiversity; Central Lancashire Core Strategy Policy 22. | Also, use its BNG checklist and interim strategic significance guidance. The joint replacement plan is still emerging. |
| Fylde | Fylde’s Local Plan to 2032 including Partial Review, adopted 2021, ENV2 biodiversity. | Meanwhile, the replacement Local Plan to 2042 completed a Regulation 19 consultation in October 2026; it is not adopted. |
| Hyndburn | Hyndburn’s Local Plan 2040, adopted 16 July 2026. | Therefore, use the new adopted 2040 plan and any operative development management policies. Do not substitute a newer scoping draft. |
| Lancaster | Lancaster’s Local Plan incorporating 2025 Climate Emergency Partial Review, DM44 biodiversity, DM43 green and blue infrastructure. | First exclude land within the Yorkshire Dales National Park planning area. Check relevant coastal or Arnside and Silverdale landscape policies. |
| Pendle | Pendle’s Local Plan Fourth Edition 2021–2040, adopted 18 December 2025, SP10 natural environment and DM04 BNG. | However, Fifth Edition plan scoping remains emerging, not adopted. |
| Planning authority | Current adopted plan and key biodiversity policy | Practical check |
|---|---|---|
| Preston | Preston’s Local Plan adopted 2015, EN10 biodiversity; Central Lancashire Core Strategy Policy 22. | Also, check the status of the joint replacement plan and relevant city policies. |
| Ribble Valley | Ribble Valley’s Core Strategy adopted 2014, EN4 biodiversity and DME3 site/species protection; HED DPD 2019. | In addition, consider Forest of Bowland landscape context and the correct local validation list. |
| Rossendale | Rossendale’s Local Plan 2019–2036, adopted 2021, ENV4 ecological networks. | Meanwhile, its new-plan call for sites in autumn 2026 is not an adopted site allocation. |
| South Ribble | South Ribble’s Local Plan adopted 2015, G16 biodiversity; Central Lancashire Core Strategy Policy 22. | Also, check the joint plan examination status. Verify registration and allocation before arranging off-site units. |
| West Lancashire | West Lancashire’s Local Plan 2012–2027, adopted 2013, EN1–EN4 natural environment. | However, its replacement plan is still being prepared. |
| Wyre | Wyre’s Local Plan incorporating 2022 Partial Update, adopted January 2023, CDMP4 environmental assets. | Also, review the council's dedicated BNG guidance and applicable monitoring charges. |
| Unitary planning authority | Current adopted plan and biodiversity policy | Practical check |
|---|---|---|
| Blackpool | Blackpool’s Core Strategy adopted 2016, CS6 Green Infrastructure; Local Plan Part 2 adopted 2023, DM35 Biodiversity. | Therefore, apply Blackpool's own planning validation and ecological guidance. Its replacement plan to 2045 is not yet adopted. |
| Blackburn with Darwen | Blackburn with Darwen’s Local Plan 2021–2037, adopted 2024, CP6 Natural Environment, DM15 Wildlife Habitats and DM16 Green and Blue Infrastructure. | Check the borough's own application requirements and landscape/ecological context. |
The most recently announced plan is not always the plan that has legal force. For example, Hyndburn's 2040 Local Plan was adopted in July 2026 and Pendle's Fourth Edition was adopted in December 2025. Those are current adopted frameworks.
By contrast, the joint Central Lancashire Local Plan 2023–2041 for Chorley, Preston and South Ribble remained under examination in October 2026. Fylde's new plan and Rossendale's call for sites were also at pre-adoption stages.
An emerging plan may sometimes carry weight in a planning decision, but a consultation date is not an adoption notice. Therefore, record the plan and policy version used for your project.
Habitat baseline / statutory metric / gain plan
BNG measures the change in biodiversity value between the pre-development habitat baseline and the proposed completed development. The statutory metric considers habitat type, condition, area or length, distinctiveness and other prescribed factors.
First, assess the existing habitats. Next, review the design to retain valuable features and consider practical enhancement or creation. The calculation then shows the expected change in the appropriate unit categories.
Where a statutory biodiversity gain condition applies, the Biodiversity Gain Plan must be approved before development begins. Councils may also require baseline surveys, habitat plans or metric evidence when validating the planning application.
As a result, BNG should inform the layout early, rather than become a spreadsheet exercise after the design has been fixed.
No. Some applications are exempt or subject to transitional rules.
For qualifying planning applications made on or after 6 August 2026, a development on a red-line site no larger than 0.2 hectares can be exempt if it does not impact any on-site priority habitat. The full site boundary matters, not merely the building footprint.
Other exemptions have separate conditions, including householder development, qualifying negligible habitat impacts and certain temporary schemes. The former general self-build and custom-build exemption does not apply to new applications made from 6 August 2026.
An exemption from statutory BNG does not automatically remove protected-species duties, designated-site safeguards or adopted local biodiversity policy. If there is uncertainty, check the application date, site area, habitat impacts and current national guidance before relying on an exemption.
The latest official Statutory Biodiversity Metric version 1.1.0 was issued 3 November 2026. The November user guide also clarifies how to deal with watercourse spatial risk across multiple catchments.
Some qualifying smaller schemes may use the Small Sites Metric. However, SSM eligibility is not the same as a statutory exemption, and important habitats or other factors may require the full method.
In addition, the metric calculates area habitats, hedgerows and watercourses as separate categories. A surplus in one category cannot simply cancel a deficit in another.
For more detail, see our Statutory Biodiversity Metric guidance and Small Sites Metric guidance.
Published January 2026 / habitat measures / strategic significance
Published on 16 January 2026, the Lancashire Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) covers the whole county. Lancashire County Council prepared it with the 12 districts, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen.
In particular, the strategy sets out priorities for nature recovery and includes a Local Habitat Map. This identifies existing important areas and places where appropriate recovery measures could help habitats, species and ecological networks.
For a development or potential off-site gain project, the strategy can help show how proposed habitat changes contribute to wider nature recovery. However, an LNRS map is not a register of saleable biodiversity units, and it does not automatically approve a project.
For example, the published map distinguishes Areas of Particular Importance for Biodiversity and Areas that Could Become of Particular Importance. It also provides information about potential habitat and nature recovery measures.
The important question is not simply whether the site falls inside a coloured area. Instead, ask which mapped measure relates to the proposed habitat and whether the land can actually deliver the intended result.
However, a site may contain several relevant measures, or none that matches a proposed change. Therefore, the full source and ecological evidence matter.
The strategy's mapped measures are not legally binding land-use instructions. However, they can provide useful evidence when combined with an appropriate ecological assessment.
Explore the Lancashire LNRS and Local Habitat Map.
Estuaries / peat / river corridors / upland and urban habitats
Lancashire’s coast, rivers, uplands, farms and towns support very different habitats. Plan around the actual site and its ecological connections.
The Ribble Estuary and Morecambe Bay include internationally important coastal habitats and bird populations. Nearby development may need a separate assessment under the Habitats Regulations, depending on likely effects.
In addition, any habitat work involving saltmarsh, mudflat or coastal margins must also consider tides, drainage, flood risk and appropriate consents. These are not matters a metric percentage can resolve alone.
Parts of Lancashire include lowland peat and mossland landscapes. Where restoration is feasible, it may support biodiversity recovery. Nevertheless, it requires suitable water conditions, land access and a credible management plan.
Therefore, existing peatland or wetland habitats should not be assumed replaceable. Equally, a biodiversity unit assessment does not, by itself, provide evidence for a carbon-credit claim.
The Ribble, Lune, Wyre, Calder and Darwen catchments contain river corridors, floodplains and habitat connections. Development beside a river or ditch may require watercourse condition evidence and a separate metric calculation.
Retained hedgerows and riparian habitats can also be important. However, flood protection, access, maintenance and habitat trading rules can affect what is realistic.
The Forest of Bowland and Arnside & Silverdale National Landscapes bring additional landscape and ecological considerations. They are not extra planning authorities.
Meanwhile, existing urban green networks and some brownfield habitats around Blackpool, Blackburn and Preston may be valuable. In former minerals sites, statutory restoration commitments and additional BNG must be distinguished.
Therefore, a suitable habitat design should protect genuinely valuable features before considering replacement or off-site solutions.
Habitat trading / legal security / 30-year management
Retaining important habitats is often the strongest starting point. Next, assess whether suitable on-site enhancement or creation fits the layout, soil, drainage and available long-term management.
Where a shortfall remains, registered off-site biodiversity units may be appropriate under the applicable rules. They must match the relevant unit category, trading restrictions, spatial factors and legal arrangements.
The statutory gain hierarchy changed for certain non-major applications submitted from 6 August 2026. For qualifying schemes, on-site creation/enhancement and registered off-site gains now have the same priority. Statutory biodiversity credits remain last resort.
However, other applications, including most major schemes or older permissions, may follow a different hierarchy. In all cases, biodiversity gain must be additional to legally required mitigation.
Chorley and South Ribble progressed potential council habitat banks in 2026. Chorley approved reciprocal legal arrangements in July. South Ribble identified six candidate sites in September.
Therefore, before arranging units, confirm registration, availability, allocation, habitat type and legal agreements using the official gain sites register and project documents.
Similarly, a landowner considering off-site gain should first establish the ecological baseline, likely habitat creation/management feasibility and land control. The Lancashire LNRS can inform the ecological case, but it does not guarantee unit demand.
Significant on-site gains and registered off-site gains generally require at least 30 years of management, supported by the appropriate legal security and monitoring arrangements.
A Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan can explain how the intended habitats will be established, managed, checked and adjusted. Therefore, the plan must fit the ecology, landholding and actual resources.
Read our off-site biodiversity units guidance and habitat management and monitoring plan advice for the next steps.
Ten practical checks / a clear project brief
Send your site boundary, proposed works and planning stage. We can help identify the next useful ecological or BNG step.
Scope the work / assess habitats / plan delivery
We review your location, proposed works, planning stage and available evidence. This helps identify the relevant authority, likely habitat-survey requirements and key BNG questions before work is commissioned.
Next, where instructed, work may include the appropriate habitat baseline, condition survey, biodiversity metric and reporting. We can help the project team understand how habitat retention, creation and landscape decisions affect the result.
Finally, depending on the scope, we can help with the BNG report, Biodiversity Gain Plan information and longer-term management or monitoring requirements. Any registered off-site unit arrangement, legal agreements or specialist consents must be checked separately.
To prepare your submission, see our BNG report for planning and Biodiversity Gain Plan service.
Also, explore BNG in North West England. Start with our BNG assessment and habitat survey service to scope the ecology.
Local planning questions / practical answers
For ordinary proposals outside the National Park, use the relevant district council, Blackpool or Blackburn with Darwen. However, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority handles sites within its boundary, including a small part of Lancaster. Lancashire County Council has separate duties, including relevant minerals and waste work. Check the red-line site and proposal type.
No. Both are independent unitary local planning authorities with their own adopted Local Plans and validation requirements. The county-wide LNRS covers them, but that does not create a single county-wide development plan for ordinary applications.
Yes. Lancashire County Council published its LNRS on 16 January 2026 after approving it in late November 2025. The strategy covers the 12 districts, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen, and provides a Local Habitat Map and priorities.
No. Mapped potential measures may provide evidence for strategic significance, but the proposed habitat and site must genuinely match the strategy and statutory metric guidance. The map does not calculate units, approve the development or register an off-site gain site.
A four-unitary proposal was announced in July 2026, then paused and withdrawn for review by late October. No new system was in force on 8 November 2026. Use the existing district and unitary planning authorities unless an actual statutory change has taken effect.
Some are. Qualifying applications made from 6 August 2026 for red-line sites of 0.2 hectares or less can be exempt if no on-site priority habitat is impacted. Other exemptions and transitional rules are separate. Check local biodiversity policies and protected species duties even if exempt.
Not solely because it is a self-build project. The former general exemption for new self-build/custom-build applications was removed from 6 August 2026. Earlier applications and particular transitional cases need a careful date check. Other exemptions may apply if their own conditions are met.
No. The joint plan for Chorley, Preston and South Ribble remained at examination in October 2026. Until lawfully adopted, their existing Local Plans and the Central Lancashire Core Strategy remain the key adopted development-plan sources.
They vary. For example, Hyndburn adopted its Local Plan 2040 in July 2026, and Pendle adopted its Fourth Edition in December 2025. Lancaster adopted a climate-emergency partial review in January 2025. Check the relevant authority's adoption notice and current plan.
Eligible units may be available through a properly registered gain site. Chorley and South Ribble progressed prospective council habitat banks in 2026. Therefore, before buying, confirm current availability, registration, allocation, habitat type, price and legal arrangements for your project.
No. Development affecting protected sites such as the Ribble Estuary or Morecambe Bay may require Habitats Regulations or other ecological assessments in addition to the statutory biodiversity metric. BNG does not substitute for avoidance, legally required mitigation or separate consents.
For planning permission subject to the statutory biodiversity gain condition, the Biodiversity Gain Plan generally must be approved before development begins. Local planning validation may require supporting biodiversity information earlier. Phased and nationally significant infrastructure can have different procedures.
Talk to ACP / Site enquiries
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Lancashire BNG
Reviewed 8 November 2026.
