Biodiversity and planning policy
West Oxfordshire District Council, as a Local Planning Authority, has a major role in ensuring that new developments conserve and enhance the biodiversity of the district, which supports a wealth of important habitats, species and sites.
Information about European legislation is available from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.
National Legislation, Guidance and Policies
The need to conserve and enhance biodiversity is endorsed by the Government in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF)
The key sections in the NPPF related to biodiversity/nature conservation policy are
- The ministerial foreword
- The presumption in favour of sustainable development (paras. 6 - 16)
- The core planning principles (para. 17)
- Requiring good design (paras. 56 - 68)
- Meeting the challenge of climate change, flooding and coastal change (paras. 93 - 108)
- Conserving and enhancing the Natural Environment (para. 109 - 119)
- Light pollution (para. 125)
- Conserving and enhancing the historic environment (paras. 126 - 141)
- Local Plan (paras. 156 - 158; 165 - 167; 180;
More guidance is provided in the Government Circular 06/2005.