Policy information sourced from the Tower Hamlets Local Plan

D.ES3 Urban greening and biodiversity

Development is required to protect and enhance biodiversity, through:

  • maximising the provision of ‘living building’ elements
  • retaining existing habitats and features of biodiversity value or, if this is not possible, replacing them within the development, as well as incorporating additional measures to enhance biodiversity, proportionate to the development proposed, and
  • protecting and increasing the provision of trees, through:
    • protecting all trees, including street trees
    • incorporating native trees, wherever possible
    • providing replacement trees, including street trees, where the loss of or impact on trees in a development is considered acceptable

Major development is required to submit an ecology assessment demonstrating biodiversity enhancements that contribute to the objectives of the latest Tower Hamlets Local Biodiversity Action Plan and the Thames River Basin Management Plan.

Planting and landscaping around developments must not include ‘potentially invasive non-native species’. Invasive non-native species listed in Schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act must be controlled, and eradicated where possible, as part of redevelopment.

Development must not negatively impact on any designated European site such as Special Protection Areas, Special Areas of Conservation or Ramsar sites. Developments which might have the potential to adversely impact a Special Protection Area or Special Area of Conservation outside the borough will be required to submit a Habitat Regulations Assessment.

Developments which affect a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation, or significantly harm the population or conservation status of a protected or priority species, are required to be managed in accordance with the following hierarchy:

  • Adverse impacts to the biodiversity interest should be avoided.
  • Where avoidance is not possible, proposals must minimise and mitigate the impact to the biodiversity interest.
  • As a last resort for exceptional cases where the benefits of the proposal clearly outweigh the biodiversity impacts, appropriate compensation will be sought.
  • Where appropriate compensation is not possible, planning permission will be refused.

For more information please see the Local Plan