How to build a wilder Kent through green infrastructure

Kent is being developed at an alarming rate. The county that is known as the Garden of England is under pressure to deliver over 222,000 new homes by 2040. As population increases, so does the demand for new homes, which is why the Planning and Policy team at Kent Wildlife Trust have joined the growing number of accredited Building with Nature assessors, to put nature at the heart of new development in a way that benefits both people and wildlife.

Building with Nature (BwN) is the UK’s first green infrastructure benchmark. It was created by Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust in 2018 as a desire to have a proactive approach to nature-friendly developments, with an aim to raise the bar for industry and mainstream green infrastructure placemaking. It provides planners and developers with evidence-based, how-to, best practice guidance on delivering good green infrastructure. It does this through a framework of best practice standards – the BwN Standards – that collectively defines a benchmark of high-quality green infrastructure and how to deliver it.

What is Green Infrastructure?

Green infrastructure is a fundamental component of sustainable living. It provides a network of multi-functional green space and green features such as parks, play areas, nature reserves, playing fields and woodlands as well as allotments, green roofs, street planting and sustainable drainage systems (SuDs). It can also include rivers, ponds, streams, canals, rain gardens and other water bodies which are often referred to as ‘blue infrastructure’.

The key principle of green infrastructure is that it is a network of integrated features that are multi-functional and provide a magnitude of benefits simultaneously. Green infrastructure;
 

• aids nature’s recovery through enhancing, restoring and creating habitats for wildlife,
• supports people’s mental and physical health,
• provides sustainable drainage to reduce run-off and flash flooding,
• encourages active travel,
• contributes toward low or zero carbon living,
• adds value to existing heritage and
• attracts investment.

The degree to which green infrastructure provides these benefits depends on how it is designed, managed, and maintained. Opportunities for delivering high-quality green infrastructure within developments is often missed. This is why we encourage developers to employ the BwN Standards Framework.

How can Building with Nature help create a Wilder Kent?

The UK is ranked in the bottom 10% globally for the most biodiversity depleted countries in the world, with 40% of our species in decline and one in seven native species facing extinction. The decline of biodiversity in the UK is largely caused by the pattern of land use change, such as loss of land for development and road schemes. We are living in a climate and biodiversity crisis at the same time as an acute housing need. Even with adequate housing, many people don’t have access to nature, or the benefits nature brings to health and wellbeing. This is why at Kent Wildlife Trust, we want to find the balance between the housing, climate, and biodiversity emergencies to provide the housing that people need, whilst actively reducing climate impacts, restoring habitats for wildlife and ensuring equal opportunities for access to nature.  

Through stewardship as a BwN Assessor, our aim is to increase wildlife abundance and climate resilient developments across Kent. The BwN Standards Framework can help us achieve this by drawing together policy and best practice guidance related to health and wellbeing, sustainable water management, ecology, and biodiversity. Within the framework are 12 Standards arranged across four groups. There are:

Core standards

1. Optimises multifunctionality and connectivity.
2. Positively responds to the climate emergency.
3. Maximises environmental net gains.
4. Champions a context driven approach.
5. Creates distinctive places.
6. Secures effective place-keeping.

Wellbeing standards

1. Brings nature closer to people.
2. Supports equitable and inclusive places.

Water standards

1. Delivers climate resilient water management.
2. Brings water closer to people.

Wildlife standards

1. Delivers wildlife enhancement.
2. Underpins nature’s recovery.

We acknowledge that no development is possible without some impact on nature, and in many cases some developments cannot have an overarching positive impact to wildlife, biodiversity, and climate change. In these circumstances we would work to raise awareness of the issues affecting wildlife and campaign for positive change for nature and people.

The role of a Building with Nature assessor

Nature has always been a huge part of my life. In my former career as an ecologist, I frequently worked with developers at all stages of a project to improve and deliver a development for biodiversity. However, too often I came into a project after the design stage, where the developer was reluctant to redesign the scheme to avoid damage to habitats and wildlife and go beyond a simple “box-tick” on their planning application.

The guiding principle of BwN is to work with nature, not against it. A concept that is sometimes difficult for developers to grasp. However, with the help of a BwN assessor, incorporating biodiversity and climate resilience into a development scheme is a proactive and collaborative approach which can add value to people’s well-being by creating a nature-friendly development, that’s sensitive to location and context.

The role of a BwN Assessor is to support an applicant and take a coordinating role to ensure the project meets the BwN Standards Framework, for example to ensure the applicant pursue meaningful engagement with local communities, promote biodiversity, address the climate emergency, and emphasise social wellbeing and benefits. If all 12 BwN Standards are met, the applicant can acquire a quality assured recognition in the form of an accredited BwN Award, which offers a means of recognising and valuing policy and development that goes beyond standard practice to deliver multifunctional green infrastructure.

As a BwN Assessor, I can work collaboratively with an applicant, to provide a novel perspective of high-quality green infrastructure design, to induce positive change and to create a Wilder Kent.

Get in Touch

BwN is a voluntary approach developed by practitioners and policy-makers to enable developers to integrate high-quality green infrastructure to create meaningful places in which people and nature can flourish. If you would like to find out more about Building with Nature certification or have any questions about the Standards Framework, please contact us by email.