If you work for a local authority, check out our BNG practitioner network for LPAs. This page tells you more about what the network is for and how to join.
As well as these webpages, we also manage a BNG network for local planning authority officers with an online forum on Basecamp and regular meetings. This is a great way for local government practitioners across the country to discuss BNG in their local areas and the challenges they face, and share ideas and good practice. This network is very active and has been a useful tool for many. We host relevant events and share learning and development around the BNG approach with the forum via Basecamp and Teams. If you work for a local authority, you can find out more about what the network is for and how to join on this page.
How to join the network
Use this sign-up form to be added to the network. To join the network you will need to join our forum on the online collaboration tool Basecamp.
Please note the network is strictly for Local Government practitioners only. We usually try to add new members to the Basecamp forum once a week, so don't worry if it takes a few days after filling out the form to be granted access.
The Basecamp forum is an online space for local authority officers to ask questions, post updates and share experiences, as well as to help PAS develop our package of support on BNG.
Joining the Basecamp forum is totally voluntary, and you can always drop out of it in the future. Once you have joined the BNG network, there is guidance available (pinned at the top of message boards) to help navigate Basecamp.
If you are on the network or decide to join and later leave your role within local government, you will be required to leave the platform and will no longer be able to access the forum.
About the Basecamp forum
We've set up the Basecamp forum to allow conversations and collaboration between local authority officers, as well as with PAS. The team at PAS have used Basecamp for years as our online collaboration space. It's a website and it sends you notifications, so you might experience it as a series of emails. If you're interested, there is a quick guide here. The reason for using Basecamp is to give us a place away from our main website where we can discuss issues and ideas with LPAs without the pressure of having fully formed answers and where we can develop ideas without setting hares running. As things become clearer, we can push things into our main website for general consumption.
Our main website will continue to host existing guidance and information, as well as provide updates on PAS support activities. We also regularly update our YouTube channel with recordings from events hosted by the PAS team throughout the year. Many of our BNG-related sessions are added to the channel and offer valuable insights into the topics being discussed within the forum.
Basecamp is where LPAs and PAS discuss and develop ideas - none of the content contained within is official advice. This platform offers vital support and advice to officers across the country and enhances peer-to-peer collaboration across multi-disciplinary teams within local government.
Currently, the forum discussion threads are organised onto three boards: the BNG system, Development Management Processes and Policy. Each board has specific sub-categories to organise threads more efficiently and to improve accessibility for other users.
DISCLAIMER: The PAS team updates these pages regularly to reflect current guidance on biodiversity net gain as best we can. Our goal is to provide accurate, timely information to support local planning authorities. If you are from a local authority and have any questions about the content or need further information, please contact us at [email protected]. This page was last updated on 02/10/25.