Council’s new SEND school achieves off-site BNG | Environment Bank

Client: Gloucestershire County Council
Sector: Education
Region: South West

LPA: Gloucestershire County Council
NCA: Severn and Avon Vales

Habitat Bank: Martley
Biodiversity Units:

Grassland
Heathland and shrub

Environment Bank provided local Biodiversity Units and expert support to Gloucestershire County Council so they could meet their Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) planning condition for a crucial new school project to go ahead.

About the development project

A new state school for two hundred pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), including those with moderate and additional learning difficulties (MALD), was set to be built on council-owned land in the Abbeydale suburb of Gloucester.

Since they were introduced following UK government reforms in 2014, the number of education, health, and care plans (EHCPs) – plans that outline a child’s special educational needs and provisions to meet them – has increased every year, significantly outpacing the increase in resources available. This made Gloucestershire County Council’s new project particularly important.

With the school due to open in 2027, this £19.5 million project would be a vital addition to the county where an increasing number of pupils were only able to meet their educational needs by attending independent schools or travelling outside Gloucestershire.

Vision of new school from above showing school buildings and accessible car park — A vision of the new school with drop-off and accessible parking

This school project will have such a positive impact for families in Gloucestershire by providing space for two hundred primary and secondary pupils to have their special educational needs met far closer to home.

We’re really grateful to the team at Environment Bank for their support in helping make sure our project could meet its BNG planning conditions on time and we’d recommend them to other councils.
Jeremy McDermott
Senior Estates Manager
Gloucestershire County Council

Providing the best solution with expert support

In line with BNG guidance, the council first explored ways to increase biodiversity at the development site, this included designing ecological enhancements for the school’s green spaces such as bird boxes, hibernation spaces, and a dedicated habitat area.

With not enough suitable space available to achieve a 10% net gain in biodiversity entirely on-site, the council required off-site Biodiversity Units to satisfy their post-planning BNG condition.

Once planning permission was granted in November 2024, the council reached out to a number of different off-site BNG providers, including Environment Bank, and we were able to provide the best quote.

Our in-house team of experts gave the council and their consultants at EG Carter a great deal of support and advice throughout the process to ensure everything went smoothly. The council secured a reservation with us in March 2025, and the sale was finalised early the following month.

Vision of new school showing main entrance, with paths, grassy areas, fences, shrubs, and a tree — A vision of the new school’s entrance

Environment Bank really allowed us to understand BNG and helped make everything as simple as possible so we could ensure that the council’s project progressed as planned. Thanks to the team at Environment Bank; we look forward to working together again.
Craig Barnett
Commercial Manager
EG Carter & Co.

Supporting nature across the Severn & Avon Vales landscape

We provided the council with Biodiversity Units from our Martley Habitat Bank located in the same Severn & Avon Vales National Character Area (NCA) as the development. This meant that biodiversity gains were delivered locally, giving the council the most cost-effective off-site BNG option.

Alongside the Biodiversity Unit types purchased by the council, Martley Habitat Bank is also home to diverse habitats such as orchards, hedgerows, and ponds – creating better connectivity across the landscape which features parcels of ancient woodland.

With public footpaths crossing the site, people from the local area will get to experience the increase in biodiversity as these habitats establish and thrive over the next three decades. These habitats will also help to improve the health and structure of the soil which play an important role in natural flood mitigation.

Birds-eye render of Martley Habitat Bank with habitats restored, including new meadows, scrub, grassland, orchards, ponds, native hedgerow, and trees — A vision of Martley Habitat Bank

One of the key advantages of having a large network of active Habitat Banks is our ability to promptly provide high-quality Biodiversity Units to councils like Gloucestershire County Council for their public sector schemes.

We are thrilled that our BNG solution will facilitate such an important project. A big thank you goes out to the council and EG Carter & Co. for collaborating with us.
Lloyd Collins
Strategic Account Director
Environment Bank

Find out more about our Biodiversity Units