As Forest Green Rovers kicked off its new season and a drive to return to the English Football League with a high-spirited draw at Solihull on Saturday, a small piece of paperwork landed on the club's desk which signals the lifting of a major barrier for the diggers to begin work for Eco Park, the team's all-wooden 5,000 seater stadium at junction 13 of the M5.

Albeit a minor note in Stroud District Council's planning files, the document rubberstamps the biodiversity net gain requirements tied to the details of the plan – meaning that Ebley Mill, which has not always enjoyed the smoothest of relationships with the project's early stages, is now happy with the blueprint to ensure the work will deliver a 10% benefit for the environment when measured against the net value of the 40 hectare greenfield parcel of land that it replaces.

Slammed as "green tape" by some in the construction sector (a view often happily echoed by politicians seeking to win favour from developers), the Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) law was introduced by the Environment Act 2021 and it mandates that most new developments must deliver a minimum 10% increase in biodiversity value, measured using a specific biodiversity metric.

The clause is termed as a pre-commencement condition – no BNG Plan spelling no development.

In a brief statement, the council confirmed it had received a biodiversity metric calculation from architects Ridge and Partners on July 3, which followed on receipt of the BNG Plan received on June 5.

A Landscape and Ecological management plan had also been received on July 24, while a Baseline Habitats document was also on file on July 3, together with a Post Development Habitats plan received on the same date.

With these green ducks all in a row, the news came after Ecotricity founder and Forest Green Rovers owner Dale Vince told Punchline-Gloucester.com editor Mark Owen last month that the project to build the stadium at the heart of the £100m project could be finished by 2028

A case report by Isla Davey told councillors that Eco Park will comprise a sports complex including transport hub with park and ride, a green technology hub and a nature conservation area, as per the original plan set out in 2015.

Recent detailing of the plan for Eco Park from Forest Green Rovers outlines how the all-wooden 5,000 seat stadium, which was approved in December 2019, will incorporate land on both sides of the A419 to include a green tech business park.

FGR said: "The site will feature 38,000 sqm of office space and 18,000 sqm of industrial space, designed to host companies working in the zero carbon economy."

The club added: "The development will contribute around £150m to the local economy annually, while generating £2m per year in business rates for Stroud District Council."

The full plan was also designed to align with "proposed changes to the local plan, and the district council and Gfirst LEP's intention to bring green industries and knowledge-intensive sectors into the M5 growth zone", the club said at the time.

While BNG stipulations were never contested by the club and underline its commitment to improving the environment, criticism of the legislation surrounding the rule has been strong: back in January, the boss of one of Gloucestershire's leading chartered surveyors and planning consultancies gave a stark warning that the government is cruising for certain failure in its homebuiding ambitions unless it can rethink what he slammed as a "bone-headed" regulation.