22 April 2026 Dan Foster - Director & Chartered Town Planner
As of 15 April 2026, the Government has confirmed major changes to how Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) will apply to minor, medium-sized and brownfield schemes. The headline is a new 0.2 hectare area-based exemption.
This marks the most substantial recalibration of BNG since mandatory requirements came into force in February 2024. The Government expect the changes to remove BNG requirements from around half of small residential permissions.
For many single plots, infill sites and small commercial schemes, this will mean no metric, no legal agreement (including for self-build schemes) and a far more proportional process.
Developments exempt from BNG will continue to be subject to environmental protections through national planning policy and wider regulatory requirements so ecological appraisals, and the hierarchy of avoidance, mitigation and compensation will still apply.
However, for developers, the BNG changes are a meaningful shift towards clarity and proportionality. For LPAs, it should free up stretched ecological capacity. This will benefit the whole BNG system by focusing resources on larger development, which has the greatest impact, and therefore the potential to deliver the greatest benefits to nature.
Defra will bring forward secondary legislation before the 2026 summer recess with the intention of these changes coming into force before 31 July 2026 (subject to parliamentary scheduling).
Guidance will also be provided on transitional arrangements for local authorities and developers. This will cover how applications are to be treated in the interim period while changes are being implemented.
Salmon Planning + Architecture are genuinely excited about these changes because they promise a more proportionate, workable BNG system that allows everyone - developers, LPAs and consultants alike - to focus effort where it can deliver the greatest real-world benefits for nature.
If you are exploring the development potential of a site Salmon Planning + Architecture can provide clear, expert planning advice on how these BNG changes may positively affect your position.
With Chartered Town Planners, in-house RIBA architects, and offices in Somerset and Devon, our team is well placed to support you through the whole planning and design process.
If you are considering the development potential of a site, Salmon Planning + Architecture are well placed to help with expert planning advice and in-house specialist architectural services.
With offices across the South West in Somerset and Devon, please do not hesitate to make contact with us.
5.0 rating of 17 reviews
I was very pleased with the services and advice provided by Salmon Planning. I also thought the in-house architecture / drawing service worked well - saving costs, time and generally making things far more efficient. We managed to easily secure consent for something that I thought might be fraught with issues. Nigel is also very well informed on local / Somerset matters. Highly recommend!
Prompt, professional and client-focused. Would highly recommend Salmon Planning, thank you!
I have found Salmon Planning to be a well-run, professional planning company who have always strived to go above and beyond to help their clients achieve their objectives.I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend them to anyone.
The Salmon Planning Team assisted me with an assessment of development potential in the Conservation Area of a rural Oxfordshire village. The advice I received was extremely helpful both in its decisiveness and clarity and backed up by a very useful written report. I would be happy to recommend the company for those looking for a very experienced and professional planning-led team. I wish I had contacted a planning-led architectural firm first off rather than having expensive plans drawn up by an architect and then refused by the Local Authority! It would have been a much cheaper exercise.
We worked with Dan and Matt at Salmon Planning Company to secure planning permission for a double garage, workshop, and gym/yoga room. From start to finish, they were incredibly professional, knowledgeable, and easy to work with. Their advice on both the planning and design stages was excellent, and they made the whole process smooth and stress-free. Highly recommend their services!
Excellent all round service from Nigel and his knowledgeable and experienced team. I have recommended them to many people in the past and will continue to do so in the future as they listen, understand and work with clients to deliver achievable results.
We had the pleasure of working with Matt and Dan from Salmon planning recently. They dealt with our planning application for a wrap around kitchen extension from idea to submission. They listened and came up with very helpful input. They are a useful mix of knowledgeable, practical and creative. They made the process straightforward, seamless and enjoyable. They dealt with all the laborious paperwork and liaised with other relevant bodies, leaving us to just contribute to the ideas and design. They are both extremely amiable and a pleasure to deal with. The process was affordable and I feel I got great value for money. Use them, you will be pleased you did.
Salmon Planning have secured planning permission for me for both holiday lodges and a new build pub and restaurant as well as for a new dwelling. The Salmon Planning team’s skill at handling complex planning applications and securing successful outcomes has been excellent. I would happily recommend their planning and architectural design teams.
Dan and the rest of his team at Salmon Planning were consumate professionals, dealing with every aspect of a sensitive, high profile, listed, town centre development, in a conservation area. Always available for every question I had … and I had a lot.I would, without a doubt ,call upon them for any future planning projects and would have no reservation whatsoever in recommending. Unquestionably 5 star - thank you.
I regularly contact Nigel Salmon for information and advice. He, and his colleagues, are always friendly and rapidly provide excellent advice and services. As a Chartered Surveyor myself, I appreciate the professionalism of this firm.
Excellent end-to-end experience and advice for our listed property in Brighton. Would highly recommend
I’ve been using Dan Foster and his team for over 2 years now on my property developments, the level of service, support, and professionalism of each member forever seems to impress! They have saved me many times, highlighting (potentially expensive) issues I had missed and always listen to my ideas and questions with great patience . I cannot recommend this company more highly , if you need reliable advice/designs from a team for your projects definitely give Salmon Planning a call. They will tell you everything in black and white and explain all you need to know regarding the complete planning process from start to finish.
It has been a real pleasure working with Matt and the team at Salmon Planning + Architecture. Throughout the process they have been consistently professional, prompt to respond, and genuinely helpful at every stage. A great team to work with, which I wouldn't hesitate to recommend.
I was extremely pleased by the service provided by Dan Foster at Salmon Planning Company. He provided advice in relation to securing planning approval for the conversion of a barn to a residential annexe, leading to a swift and successful outcome. His advice was timely, thorough and well reasoned and his effective communication with the planning authority led to an outcome which would not otherwise have been likely. The support provided proved to be money well spent.
