Planning Conditions and Enforcement

Recorded Wednesday 5th February 2025

This webinar explains biodiversity conditions in planning, what they are, how (and whether) they get implemented and what kind of measures are in place to enforce them. Developments inevitably affect nature, so how do planners limit the damage, and how effective is this approach? Developers are required to deliver nature enhancements, and this is often done under conditions attached to planning permissions.

Guest speakers

Kiera Chapman is a research fellow at Oxford University. She has been exploring the ways UK policy protects biodiversity and how that can reshape the places where we live. Kiera has carried out research on how well planning conditions, put there to protect and enhance nature on new housing estates in England, have been carried out. She will explain what is happening and how communities can help keep track and make sure the system works better. Kiera will also touch on a deeper more philosophical level as to why planning is not achieving what it should in terms of nature.

Stuart Bence works at NatureScot (a public body in Scotland responsible for the protection and improvement of Scotland’s nature). Stuart will explain what is in the Government’s guidance on Nature and Planning and how it is being used by developers, and importantly how communities can use it to input into developments and planning. Stuart will give a few examples where there have been community, and local wildlife group involvement. He will provide some information on how communities can get involved.

Ed Swales is a Monitoring and Enforcement Officer at Cairngorms NPA who heads up the Enforcement Officer’s Forum. He will be providing information about how enforcement of planning conditions works and some of the challenges involved.

Supporting documents

The slides from the webinar presentations contain several embedded links. 

Useful Links

Links for a number of websites and resources mentioned in the webinar.

New ERCS Guidance on Planning Enforcement

The Environmental Rights Centre Scotland has produced new helpful guidance about planning enforcement. This explains how enforcement should work and the tools a planning authority can use for enforcement. It also explains what you can do if you think there has been a breach of planning control including where planning conditions have not been fulfilled. The guidance is here.

Past and future webinars

Biodiversity and Planning is the theme of our Winter Webinar Series of four webinars culminating in an in-person day event on March 22nd 2025