Policy information sourced from the Bexley Local Plan
SP9: Protecting and enhancing biodiversity and geological assets
- In its planning decisions, planning policies and action plans, the Council will protect and enhance the borough’s biodiversity and geodiversity assets, in line with national and regional policy, by:
- ensuring development in Bexley does not adversely affect the integrity of any designated European site of nature conservation importance;
- recognising the value of landforms, landscapes, geological processes and soils as contributors to the geodiversity of the borough by protecting designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), and Regionally Important Geological sites (RIGs) and Locally Important Geological sites (LIGs) and supporting their sustainable conservation and management;
- establishing clear goals for the management of identified geological sites, in order to promote public access, appreciation and interpretation of geodiversity;
- protecting, conserving, restoring, and enhancing ecological networks, Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC), Local Nature Reserves, Strategic Green Wildlife Corridors and local wildlife corridors, thus securing measurable net gains for biodiversity, recognising and promoting those sites where ecological value has increased to a higher grade of nature conservation importance;
- resisting development that will have a significant adverse impact on the population or conservation status of protected or priority species as identified by legislation or in biodiversity action plans prepared at national, regional or local level;
- protecting and enhancing the natural environment, seeking biodiversity enhancements, net gains for biodiversity and improved access to nature, particularly in areas of deficiency as illustrated by Figure 8, through new development and projects that help deliver opportunities for green infrastructure with preference given to enhancements that help to deliver the targets for habitats and species set out in the London Plan and local biodiversity action plans and strategies;
- enabling environmental education opportunities at the borough’s schools, and investigating opportunities to involve the wider community in biodiversity or geodiversity restoration and enhancement through projects;
- ensuring landscaping schemes in development proposals use native plant species of local provenance; and,
- seeking opportunities to provide for greening of the built environment.
For more information please see the Bexley Local Plan