Orchard House is a registered Biodiversity Gain Site in Stroud, Gloucestershire, providing off-site biodiversity units for developers seeking BNG units in Gloucestershire and surrounding areas.
Located within Stroud District Council and the Severn and Avon Vales National Character Area, the site offers grassland, woodland, scrub, orchard, pond, hedgerow and watercourse habitats, including high and very high distinctiveness options.
With 94.80 indicative biodiversity units across area, hedgerow and watercourse categories, Orchard House provides a varied habitat offering for developments with different off-site BNG requirements.
Key Facts
BGS Reference: BGS-240426001
Local Planning Authority (LPA): Stroud District Council
National Character Area (NCA): Severn and Avon Vales
LNRS: Gloucestershire
HMMP: Yes
Legal Agreement: Section 106
Status: Registered
Total units (indicative): 94.80
Overview
Orchard House is a registered biodiversity gain site in Gloucestershire, providing off-site biodiversity units across a broad range of habitat types within the Severn and Avon Vales National Character Area.
The site includes Other Neutral Grassland, Mixed Scrub, Other Woodland: Broadleaved and Rural Trees, alongside higher-distinctiveness habitats including Traditional Orchards and Priority Habitat Ponds.
A particular strength of Orchard House is its combination of area, hedgerow and watercourse units, including 3.22 Other Rivers and Streams units. This makes the site relevant to developments requiring specialist watercourse habitats as well as those seeking a wider selection of terrestrial habitat units from the same biodiversity gain site.
Orchard House is legally secured through a Section 106 agreement, with a Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan in place. The site is registered on the Biodiversity Gain Sites Register under reference BGS-240426001, with units available for allocation to suitable development projects.
Biodiversity Units Available
The following biodiversity units are currently available from Orchard House. Availability may change as units are allocated to live projects.
Units Available
Suitable For
Developments requiring Other Rivers and Streams or Ditches units.
Projects seeking high-distinctiveness Traditional Orchards or Priority Habitat Ponds.
Developments with grassland, scrub or woodland habitat deficits.
Schemes requiring hedgerow units, including very high distinctiveness hedgerow habitats associated with banks or ditches.
Projects within Stroud, Gloucestershire and surrounding planning authorities.
Developments seeking registered off-site BNG units across multiple habitat categories.
Coverage
Orchard House sits within Stroud District Council and the Severn and Avon Vales National Character Area, with neighbouring planning authorities including South Gloucestershire, Cotswold, Gloucester, Tewkesbury and Forest of Dean.
Developments within neighbouring LPAs, NCAs and LNRS areas may also be able to utilise units from the habitat bank, subject to Biodiversity Net Gain trading rules, spatial risk and project-specific assessment.
BNG Suitability
Orchard House offers a varied selection of off-site biodiversity units for developments requiring grassland, scrub, woodland, orchard, pond, hedgerow or watercourse habitats.
The site's high-distinctiveness Traditional Orchards, Priority Habitat Ponds and Other Rivers and Streams units may be particularly relevant where developments have corresponding habitat requirements. Its very high distinctiveness hedgerow units associated with banks or ditches provide another specialist option.
With units available across all three biodiversity unit categories, Orchard House may support projects with multiple habitat requirements through a single biodiversity gain site. However, area, hedgerow and watercourse units must be assessed separately, with suitability determined by the Statutory Biodiversity Metric, applicable trading rules and project-specific requirements.
For developments in Stroud and surrounding areas, the site's location within the Severn and Avon Vales National Character Area and Gloucestershire LNRS area is also relevant when assessing spatial risk and off-site unit suitability.
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Orchard House provides area, hedgerow and watercourse biodiversity units. Available habitats include Other Neutral Grassland, Traditional Orchards, Mixed Scrub, Other Woodland: Broadleaved, Rural Trees, Priority Habitat Ponds, several native hedgerow types, Ditches and Other Rivers and Streams.
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Yes. Orchard House has 3.22 Other Rivers and Streams units recorded as available, alongside 1.383 Ditches units. The suitability of these watercourse units depends on the development's biodiversity metric assessment and applicable trading rules.
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Potentially. Developments in neighbouring planning authorities may be able to use units from Orchard House, subject to the applicable spatial risk multiplier, habitat trading rules and project-specific assessment.
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Contact the ILM team with your development location, Biodiversity Metric and habitat requirements. The team can review unit availability and help assess whether Orchard House offers a suitable off-site BNG solution.
If you're seeking off-site BNG units in Gloucestershire or the surrounding area, contact ILM to discuss current availability at Orchard House.
The team can help assess the suitability of the available area, hedgerow and watercourse units against your project's habitat requirements, biodiversity metric and location.
