GiGL manages and provides easy access to the most comprehensive source of environmental data in Greater London. It is vital this is used by planning authorities and developers to make informed decisions.

The map below shows the number of GiGL data searches commissioned and completed within each Local Authority for the specified period. It also shows the number of planning applications for each Local Authority (source DLUHC)¹, as well as the number of data search reports as a percentage of planning applications.

The table shows the incredibly low percentage of data searches to the number of applications. Not all planning applications received by the London Boroughs will have an environmental impact, but we know from the results of the research undertaken by the Greater London Authority in 2016 that the percentage of applications informed by a GiGL data search should be closer to 18%².

More information about environmental data in planning, their importance and how to incorporate them in the planning process can be found further down and in our webpage Natural environment data in planning.

Please click the menu (three layer icon – top left of map) to see all views. Click on a Local Authority for further information*.

More information about the figures and a downloadable spreadsheets can be found further down. Figures updated in July 2024. 

A spreadsheet with the figures used for the map can be downloaded here (it includes figures for Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation and The London Legacy Development Corporation).

Current best practice guidelines set out in the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) and the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management’s (CIEEM)³ advocate accessing a robust and up to date evidence base at key stages of the planning application process. In Greater London, planning authorities and environmental consultants achieve this via accessing GiGL services.

Environmental consultants who commission reports from GiGL access the same evidence base as our local authority partners, ensuring that local decisions are informed by the same information.

The key issues:

• Environmental consultants that only consume open data from MAGIC and the National Biodiversity Network Atlas are actively choosing not to follow their profession’s best practice guidance and are likely to provide an inadequately informed assessment as a result. This may also compromise the compliance of a public body with both the NPPF and the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (NERC).
• The Creative Commons licences used to publish data via the National Biodiversity Network Atlas provide access to open data (CC-BY, CC-O and OGL licences) and shared data (CC-BY-NC licence). As of November 2018⁴, nearly 60% of the data published on the Atlas are blurred to 1km resolution or less, so aren’t precise enough to inform site-based decisions. In addition, only 12% of the data on the Atlas are published under the licences that permit commercial use⁵. It is against the licence terms to view on screen or download the remaining 88% of records. Misuse of data will result in the National Biodiversity Network Trust issuing a fixed charge notice to anyone found in breach of the licence terms⁶.

The Association of Local Environmental Records Centres (ALERC) is negotiating with national schemes and societies to gain access to shared data published via the NBN Atlas for use by local environmental records centres, making our services the only way to access these data for work relating to strategic or development management planning.

GiGL recommendations:

• Any relevant application without evidence of a full data search from GiGL should be rejected on the basis it has not accessed the recognised London evidence base⁷. Information about our data search report service is available here and useful information about environmental data in planning here. Consultants and developers cannot submit the full data search report with a planning application, however they have permission to publish a report summary sheet ⁸.
• Notify GiGL of all applications that contain Atlas-derived data where it is unclear if shared data have been accessed, and the required metadata statements haven’t been included, in order that we can investigate further and work with the NBN Trust on enforcing the terms and conditions at a national level.
• Your planning authority makes applicants aware of the information requirements via your website, validation checklist or pre-application guidance as recommended in paragraph 44 of the NPPF⁹.

We will be keeping an up-to-date log detailing the number of applications versus the number of data searches undertaken on a per Local Authority basis for our stakeholders’ reference.

Notes about the numbers used

• GiGL data search reports: GiGL data search reports delivered to clients (e.g. ecological consultants) on GiGL’s behalf by eCountability. All delivered reports are included however some might have not been in relation to or submitted with a planning application. The coordinates provided by clients when commissioning a report have been used to establish the relevant Local Authority.
• Total number of (major and minor) planning applications: Numbers provided by DLUHC in the Government’s website have been used (see footnote 1). For completeness, we present the numbers for total applications received and the total number of major and minor planning applications separately.
• Percentage of (major and minor) planning applications informed by a GiGL data search report: These percentage figures are calculated by using the number of GiGL data search report and the total number of (major and minor) planning applications. This percentage is indicative as we cannot determine at this stage the actual number of data search reports that have been submitted with planning applications so we use our commercial data search report numbers as a proxy.
• Data search reports delivered per month: Total number of data search reports delivered to clients (e.g. ecological consultants, developers, etc.) per month. *These numbers will be updated regularly and therefore the timeframe might not match the timeframe of the other figures.

1) Total number of major and minor developments from Table P124A and total applications received from Table P134 (https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-planning-application-statistics).
2) Planning for Biodiversity? (2016) (https://www.london.gov.uk/sites/default/files/biodiversity_and_planning_research_report_0.pdf).
3) For example Guidelines for Preliminary Ecological Appraisal (2017) and Guidelines for Accessing and Using Biodiversity Data in the UK (2020).
4) https://nbn.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/TTE18-03-P05-NBN-Atlas-Update.pdf.
5) https://docs.nbnatlas.org/guidance-on-the-definition-of-non-commercial-use/.

6) https://docs.nbnatlas.org/data-licenses/breach-licence-conditions/.

7) paragraph 43 of the National Planning Policy Framework states that ‘The right information is crucial to good decision-making, particularly where formal assessments are required’.
8) GiGL data search reports are supplied for internal use only and must not be published as part of an application.
9) ‘Local planning authorities should publish a list of their information requirements for applications for planning permission’.