The Environment Scrutiny Committee met to discuss several key issues, including the Lincolnshire Coast 2100+ Programme, biodiversity net gain, the procurement of compaction machinery, and the response to recommendations from the Storms Impact Working Group. The committee reviewed reports and provided feedback to be considered by the Executive Councillor for Environment and the Executive. Additionally, the committee discussed and updated its work programme for the coming months.

Lincolnshire Coast 2100+ Programme

The committee received an update on the Lincolnshire Coast 2100+ Programme, which is a partnership between Lincolnshire County Council, the Environment Agency, East Lindsey District Council, and the Lindsey Marsh Internal Drainage Board. The programme is working to develop a business case for investment in flood resilience and mitigation to present to the government.

The current sea defences along the Lincolnshire coast are degrading and are expected to be ineffective around 2040. The Shoreline Management Plan (SMP3) covering Flamborough Head to Gibraltar Point involves beach nourishment to maintain beach profiles between Mablethorpe and Skegness, but this will have diminishing returns.

The partnership is working on four workstreams:

1. A Coastal Investment Plan (CIP), led and funded by the Environment Agency via ARUP.
2. A Vision for the Coast concerning place shaping across spatial and economic themes, led and funded by the County Council with development to this point via WSP.
3. A Delivery Plan (of the Vision and underpinning interventions) for which funding and leadership requires determining.
4. Programme management and governance to ensure that all these products are delivered and all interdependencies are managed effectively to then support a comprehensive Business Case that will require specialist advice and input.

The committee was informed that there is an urgency to determine the scope for funding, as decisions regarding the future funding of the beach nourishment programme are at a critical point. A bid to secure the required £330m for maintenance and beach nourishment for the period 2027 to 2039 requires evidence of a commitment between relevant partners to developing a longer-term solution for coastal flood risk management.

The government provides guidance on how a case for investment must be framed through the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority, and are set out through a process of passing milestones known as gateways. Gateway 0 is due to be passed by March 2027, and Gateway 1 by March 2030.

The committee was asked to:

• Acknowledge the work undertaken thus far across the Lincs 2100+ programme.
• Recommend that the Executive Councillor for the Environment and Executive Director for Place continue to work with associated partners to develop the Strategic Assessment and cost profiling for continuing development of the coastal strategy.
• Request that the Executive Director of Place submits a further report at this committee's meeting on 26 September 2025.

Biodiversity Net Gain

The committee reviewed a report on Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) opportunities for Lincolnshire County Council. BNG is a planning requirement that requires developers to enhance the levels of biodiversity against the levels that they will have disturbed in the process of developing land. Developer liabilities can be offset through BNG investment in land off-site from the development. Landowners, inclusive of the County Council, can invest their property in land banking to sell BNG units in green markets.

The report explored opportunities for the council to invest appropriate land parcels in land banking, firstly to offset the council's BNG liabilities as a developer, but also as an opportunity to sell BNG units to the market.

The UK has experienced significant biodiversity loss, and BNG is an approach to development and land management that aims to leave the natural world in a better condition than it was beforehand, after first avoiding and minimising harm. BNG involves numerically comparing the total biodiversity value of existing habitats present on a site before development starts with the predicted total biodiversity value after development is complete. Development can achieve a net gain in biodiversity value by creating more valuable habitats than those present beforehand, or by retaining and enhancing existing habitats.

For the purposes of BNG, biodiversity value is measured in standardised biodiversity units, and a habitat will contain a number of biodiversity units, depending on elements such as its size, quality, location, and type.

As a developer, the council should seek to avoid or reduce any negative impact on biodiversity and deliver at least 10% BNG, as measured by the statutory biodiversity metric. This can be achieved in three ways:

• Enhanced biodiversity can be created on-site within the red line boundary of a development.
• If this cannot be achieved in full, then BNG can be delivered through a mixture of both on-site and off-site gains or purely off-site. This can be either off-site biodiversity gains on land that the council already owns and has been secured with a legal agreement, recorded on the government's biodiversity net gain sites register and specifically allocated to the development, or, alternatively, off-site biodiversity units can be purchased on the market.
• If the council cannot fulfil the BNG requirements either on-site or off-site, then statutory biodiversity credits must be purchased from the government at a rate of 2 credits per individual BNG credit required. This should be considered a last resort and is the most expensive of the three options. The government will use the revenue to invest in habitat creation in England.

The committee was asked to recommend that the Executive Director of Resources and the Executive Director of Place consider the opportunities for investing appropriate land parcels in land banking, firstly to offset the council's BNG liabilities as a developer but also as an opportunity to sell BNG units to the market.

The council has previously undertaken a review of three trial sites within the Environment Service property portfolio. This was undertaken by WSP as a desk-based exercise, and whilst figures have not been ground-truthed and remain indicative, it provides an element of scope for the opportunities for the council should appropriate land be available to land bank.

Biodiversity Net Gain Guidance for Developers

The committee was asked to consider a report on Guidance for Developers on Biodiversity Net Gain Requirements and Monitoring Fees when submitting planning applications. The views of the scrutiny committee will be reported to the Executive as part of its consideration of this item.

The Executive are due to consider the Biodiversity Net Gain Guidance for County Planning Applications on 02 September 2025. The full report to the Executive is attached as Appendix A to the report.

The report sets out a proposed monitoring BNG requirements and a fee structure to ensure that the council's costs associated with monitoring are covered. These, along with guidance to applicants on the council's approach to BNG, will be published in the document Lincolnshire County Council: Biodiversity Net Gain Planning Guide .

The committee was asked to consider the attached report and determine whether the committee supports the recommendations to the Executive as set out in the report, and agree any additional comments to be passed on to the Executive in relation to this item.

The recommendations to the Executive were:

• Approve the recommended approach to the monitoring of BNG and charging of the associated BNG Monitoring fees as set out in Table 2.
• Approve the Lincolnshire County Council: Biodiversity Net Gain Planning Guide as detailed at Appendix A.
• Delegate to the Executive Director Place, in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Environment, authority to make any amendments to the Lincolnshire County Council: Biodiversity Net Gain Planning Guide as deemed necessary and to increase the BNG monitoring fees on an annual basis in line with the inflation rate in April of that year.

Procurement and Maintenance of Compaction Machinery

The committee was asked to consider a report on the Repair and Maintenance of Compaction Machinery at Household Waste Recycling Centres. The views of the scrutiny committee will be reported to the Executive Councillor for Environment as part of his consideration of this item.

The Executive Councillor for Environment is due to consider the Repair and Maintenance of Compaction Machinery at Household Waste Recycling Centres Procurement between 04 and 08 August 2025. The full report to the Executive Councillor is attached as Appendix A to the report.

The report sets out a proposed course of action regarding the procurement of a new contract and delegation of the necessary decisions.

The committee was asked to consider the attached report and determine whether the committee supports the recommendations to the Executive Councillor for Environment as set out in the report, and agree any additional comments to be passed on to the Executive Councillor for Environment in relation to this item.

The recommendations to the Executive Councillor for Environment were:

• Approves the recommendation to procure a new contract for the repair and maintenance of compactors for the Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) for a contract term of three years plus optional extensions of two years (2x 12 months) for the whole life value of approximately £750,000 inclusive of VAT.
• Delegates to the Executive Director Place in consultation with the Executive Councillor for Environment the authority to take all decisions necessary to progress the procurement up to and including determination of the final form contract and the award and execution of contract and any other documentation necessary to deliver the procurement.

Storms Impact Working Group - Response to Recommendations

The committee received a report providing an update on actions undertaken in response to the recommendations identified within the Storms Impact Working Group Report developed by the former Flood and Water Management Scrutiny Committee.

In February 2025, the Storms Impact Working Group published a set of recommendations to the then Executive Councillor for Economy, Environment and Planning following considerations and investigations made following the storms of winter 2023/24 (Babet & Henk).

The committee was asked to:

• Endorse this report and note the progress made to date following the publication of the Storms Impact Working Group.
• Request that the Executive Councillor for the Environment and the Executive Director of Place continue to progress work that will deliver against the recommendations made by the Working Group.

The report outlined the recommendations made by the Working Group and the responses to those recommendations. The recommendations covered a range of issues, including contact procedures for members of the public affected by flooding events, the development of emergency plans by local communities, funding arrangements for the Environment Agency's flood risk activities, the Environment Agency's procurement arrangements, the Environment Agency's duties to wildlife, funding for internal drainage boards, and groundwater flooding.

Environment Scrutiny Committee Work Programme

The committee considered its work programme and highlighted any items which could be added to the programme.