Biodiversity Net Gain at Boughton Monchelsea

The client

Boughton Monchelsea Amenity Trust (BMAT), a charity managing around 325 acres of land in and around Boughton Monchelsea, near Maidstone. The restoration work was funded by a developer client of Adonis Blue Environmental Consultants, seeking voluntary Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) offsets in the local area.

Find out more about our Biodiversity Net Gain work with clients and landowners across Kent.

The challenge

BMAT was established over 30 years ago to protect the village from encroaching urban development, and has since grown to prioritise biodiversity, climate resilience, and community access to green space across its landholdings. One of its more recently acquired sites, Lyewood, was previously a chicken farm and later a builders' compound, left in poor condition with low species diversity, compacted bare ground, and construction debris. Delivering the ambitious, long-term restoration BMAT wanted was constrained by limited funding, which relies largely on charitable donations.

What we did

We began working with BMAT in 2021 to assess the potential for BNG investment to restore Lyewood, ahead of it becoming a legal requirement in January for most new developments to demonstrate a minimum of 10% biodiversity net gain on their sites, or buy offsets to fund habitat creation or restoration nearby. Our botanical surveyors assessed BMAT's landholdings against UKHab habitat classification and condition criteria to establish current biodiversity value, then worked closely with BMAT to develop fully costed habitat proposals and management plans balancing maximum biodiversity uplift with realistic long-term management and public accessibility. The resulting plans included a wildflower-rich meadow grazed by rare-breed livestock, a small wetland, a chestnut coppice, and native woodland planting. We also supported BMAT in preparing the documentation needed for planning authority submission to release funding for the works.

The outcome achieved

Restoration works began in summer 2023, with ground preparation for the species-rich meadow, new ponds, and walking trails. Local volunteers have since planted over 600 trees across two community tree-planting events, and a footpath through the site is already open and well used. The project has secured 30 years of funded management for the site, turning a degraded former building compound into a biodiversity-rich, accessible green space for the community — and stands as a working example of how mandatory BNG can hold developers accountable while delivering real benefits to local people.

If you think you might have a site that could be suitable for a BNG offset project, or you are interested in purchasing high-integrity BNG units from sites in Kent, please do get in touch and we will be happy to discuss how we could help.