Green Infrastructure Audit

Tender description

Westminster City Council invites quotations for a Green Infrastructure Audit of the borough to begin March 2023 and be completed within approximately 6 months, as consultants advise. This timing should allow for elements of the Audit (e.g. tree and ecological surveys) to be conducted in appropriate conditions. The primary aim of the Audit is to produce a sound and robust evidence base on Westminster’s green assets – both public and private as far as possible – to support the implementation of the City Plan (and its supplementary planning documents). It will also be utilised in policy development and decision making across WCC departments, including Active Communities, Climate Emergency, City Highways, Development, CIL/ S106, Housing and Place Shaping. It should also provide a strategic, holistic, locally informed evidence base for Westminster’s partners and stakeholders – including private landowners, estates and BIDs – to contribute to the enhancement of GI and biodiversity in the City. The Council expects a section on biodiversity (i.e. Ecological Survey and review of SINCs/ LNRs) to form part of the Audit, in anticipation of the Environment Act 2021 requirement for Biodiversity Reports every 5 years and the forthcoming Local Nature Recovery Strategy (LNRS) for London. This section should therefore establish a baseline for biodiversity value across a sample range of GI, using Natural England’s Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) Metric 3.1. It will ideally report on the status of target species within the City Plan and identify opportunities for enhancing BNG. Tenders will utilise the most innovative research tools to establish a baseline for the borough’s green/ blue infrastructure and biodiversity value. Through desk-based analysis, site assessments and consultation with stakeholders, a comprehensive understanding of our existing assets, surpluses and deficiencies should be developed.