Biodiversity Duty

The duty requires local authorities to:

1. consider what actions they can take to conserve and enhance biodiversity
2. agree policies and specific objectives based on those considerations
3. act to deliver those policies and achieve their objectives

First Considerations report

This First Considerations Report is the Councils first consideration and aims to:

• respond to the new corporate Biodiversity Duty imposed on Councils to propose and report on actions for biodiversity within a Biodiversity Report
• deliver and monitor Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) as a mandatory requirement of new major development from 12 February 2024, and minor development from 2 April 2024, which must form part of the Biodiversity Report

Biodiversity Duty report

Local authorities are required to publish periodic biodiversity reports to demonstrate how they are complying with this duty. For Local Planning Authorities (LPAs), the report must also include information on the implementation of Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG). The statutory deadline for publication of the first report was 26 March 2026.

The Biodiversity Duty Report outlines the actions taken by Wakefield Metropolitan District Council during the first reporting period (1 January 2024 to 1 January 2026) and sets out our plans for the next five-year period (2026 to 2031).