- Panattoni completes construction of 200,000 sq ft logistics site in Crawley, West Sussex – a prime logistics location near Gatwick Airport
- The development achieved Biodiversity Net Gain using Biodiversity Units from a nearby 16-hectare Habitat Bank, managed by Environment Bank, in rural East Sussex
Environment Bank, the leading off-site Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) provider, is delivering biodiversity gains for Europe’s largest logistics real estate developer, Panattoni.
Environment Bank is ensuring Panattoni meets its BNG requirements for a 200,000 sq ft logistics project on a 10-acre brownfield site in Crawley, by providing high integrity off-site Biodiversity Units.
Environment Bank helps developers meet their BNG requirements by providing Biodiversity Units from its dedicated BNG Habitat Banks, which are managed and fully forward funded over a period of 30 years. Environment Bank has received £240m backing by Gresham House’s British Sustainable Infrastructure Fund.
With construction due to complete by the start of 2025, Panattoni Park Crawley, a prime logistics location near Gatwick Airport, will provide essential access to consumer markets across London and the Southeast.
Sustainability has been at the heart of the development and the centre boasts several key sustainable and energy efficient build features with a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating and ‘A’ EPC rating.
When planning the build, Panattoni also considered the project’s impact on nature. Environment Bank worked closely with Panattoni throughout the planning process and demonstrated to the local planning authority (LPA) how its high-integrity Biodiversity Units satisfy BNG requirements off-site This gave Crawley Council the confidence to grant planning permission, enabling the project to go ahead.
Alexa Culver, General Counsel, Environment Bank said: “We worked in close collaboration with Panattoni and Crawley Council on this project and are delighted to be providing BNG solutions that deliver for nature, now and into the future.
“The planning phase of the project began before new BNG regulations came into effect in February 2024 but, because Environment Bank prepared in advance by creating Habitat Banks across England, we were able to ensure Panattoni could meet its requirements.”
With local areas for habitat restoration extremely scarce in the Crawley area, and all options for on-site biodiversity gains fully exhausted, an off-site solution was the best possible way to restore habitats and ensure the Crawley development resulted in a ‘net gain’ for nature.
Joshua Butler, Senior Project Manager, Panattoni said: “As this was one of Panattoni’s first schemes under the new BNG regulations, and local offsetting options are particularly scarce in Crawley, Environment Bank stepped in to help. Over the course of 10 months, Environment Bank worked with Panattoni and our consultants to get to a position where the LPA were happy for us to proceed with the development. It was hard, but with support from Environment Bank, we got there.”
Environment Bank provided woodland and grassland Biodiversity Units from its Blackboys Habitat Bank which sits in the National Character Area just adjacent to the development site. By creating this dedicated 16-hectare Habitat Bank, Environment Bank was able deliver biodiversity gains at scale. The Blackboys Habitat Bank will be closely monitored by Environment Bank’s team of ecologists over the next three decades as it develops.
Sophie Moy, Associate Ecologist, Environment Bank said: “Through our Blackboys Habitat Bank, we are transforming the existing sheep-grazed pasture fields into a mosaic of species-rich grassland, lowland meadows, mixed scrub, woodland, and ponds. We’re excited to see the space thrive over the years – with a growing number of key species building in abundance, such as bullfinches, hedgehogs, hazel dormice, serotine bats, and great crested newts. Members of the community can enjoy the site too, visiting via its multiple public footpaths.”