BNG for long-awaited retirement residence
A site in Shropshire which had stood vacant for fifteen years, where numerous plans had fallen through, will finally become a long-awaited retirement complex for the local town with Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) planning conditions satisfied using off-site Biodiversity Units supplied by Environment Bank.
About the development project
Following the demolition of a pub in Dawley, Telford, a large site had stood vacant in the town centre since 2008. Four previous planning bids for retirement accommodation were made between 2009 and 2023, each one falling through due to viability constraints before construction could begin.
McCarthy Stone’s plans for 51 retirement apartments, complete with a communal garden, mobility scooter store, and resident parking, were approved in 2024. With such a central and easily accessible location, the apartments were designed to provide independence and convenience to the residents and their loved ones.
While the community garden will allow for a degree of improvement in biodiversity at the premises – particularly compared to its long-term state as a demolition site – a further net increase in biodiversity would be required to satisfy the project’s BNG planning condition.
With this in mind, McCarthy Stone reached out to Environment Bank to find an off-site BNG solution that would ensure the project succeeded.
At McCarthy Stone, we are committed to not just building homes but creating places where nature can thrive. Environment Bank’s expertise in BNG has allowed us to positively contribute to the UK’s national biodiversity, whilst also complying with the requirements.
Lindsay Roberts
ESG Lead
McCarthy Stone
A forward-thinking approach
From the beginning, McCarthy Stone endeavoured to go beyond the minimum requirements, with a clear commitment to supporting biodiversity within the project. This was obvious, not just in the approach to the site itself, where the specific provision of accessible green space was a priority, but also in their approach to off-site BNG.
Our BNG experts worked closely with the McCarthy Stone team and their planning consultants at Planning Potential to help meet their Biodiversity Unit requitements, providing extensive advice to ensure that their planning conditions would be satisfied.
Following the success of this project, Environment Bank has enjoyed an ongoing working relationship with McCarthy Stone to supply off-site Biodiversity Units for their future projects, including fifteen upcoming sites.
The team at Environment Bank was instrumental in ensuring this project satisfied its planning condition and progressed successfully. Their expertise in BNG, combined with how easy they make the whole process, is the reason we’ll continue to work with them on upcoming projects.
Matthew Serginson
Development Director
McCarthy Stone
Transforming landscapes in Shropshire
McCarthy Stone’s vision to convert a long-abandoned site into a valuable social resource is mirrored in our ecological approach at the Ludlow Habitat Bank, the BNG site chosen from our national network where the Biodiversity Units used for this project were generated.
This 42-acre Habitat Bank, a site previously home to low-biodiversity, low-yielding pasture and arable land, is being transformed by our in-house ecologists into a vast, thriving green space with the potential to benefit the wider landscape and its local communities.
Along with the grassland habitat type required by McCarthy Stone, the Habitat Bank also features new lowland meadows, woodland, and ponds – all now teeming in native flora and fauna.
With Ludlow Habitat Bank located in the adjacent local planning authority area to the development, we were also able to provide a cost-effective BNG solution for McCarthy Stone.
Thank you to McCarthy Stone and Planning Potential for working with us – we’re so glad we could work with all involved to make a real difference on this project. We’re looking forward to everything the future holds!
Lloyd Collins
Strategic Account Director
Environment Bank