The UK is home to three native newt species, the smooth newt, the palmate newt and the great crested newt. The great crested newt is our largest and arguably most charismatic species, almost prehistoric looking. Their population and distribution across the UK have declined significantly largely due to the loss of habitat which means it also happens to be one of UK’s most protected species.
In a nutshell, it’s an offence to kill, injure, capture or disturb them, damage or destroy their habitat, possess, sell or trade them. If found guilty of such action, you can be prosecuted.
Great Crested Newt and Development
The presence of great crested newts can therefore lead to planning permission being refused unless the applicant can clearly demonstrate that the species will be adequately maintained and protected during the development process. Because of this local planning authorities are required to assess whether great crested newts (and other protected species) are likely to be affected by a development proposal, which is why they will ask for an ecology report(s) in support of a planning application.
In the first instance, the applicant can expect to commission a preliminary ecological appraisal (PEA) which to put it very simply assesses the potential of the development site to support protected and notable species (and habitats), and highlights any potential ecological constraints associated with the development proposals.
Often contrary to popular belief, great crested newts actually spend a lot of time on land and can disperse quite significant distances from their breeding ponds, which is why both aquatic and terrestrial habitats are protected. As part of the PEA process, it is therefore normal to identify all potentially suitable ponds for GCN within a minimum 250m radius of the development site. If any ponds are identified, it’s likely that a Habitat Suitability Index assessment (which can be undertaken at any time of the year) will need to be undertaken in order to determine the ponds suitability to support breeding great crested newts.
Great Crested Newt Survey Methods
If any ponds are identified as being suitable to support great crested newts, then further surveys will likely be required in order to determine their presence / likely absence. These further surveys would help inform any subsequent requirements for mitigation, compensation and/or licences to facilitate the proposed development. There are two survey methodologies typically employed to determine GCN presence/likely absence, both of which need to be performed by surveyors that hold Natural England personal survey licences, which all of our ecologists have.
Traditional surveys which often involve setting humane traps in ponds overnight comprise a minimum of four survey visits between 15th March to 15th June with at least two of these visits during 15th April to 15th May and with the visits spread throughout the survey period. Should GCN presence be confirmed then two additional survey visits will be required in order to determine the population size class, with at least one of these additional survey visits being undertaken between 15th April and 15th May.
Another survey technique which has been approved by Natural England and can be used for determining GCN presence/likely absence is eDNA water testing. This technique detects pond occupancy from GCN by analysing traces of GCN DNA shed into the pond environment (eDNA). This survey comprises just a single site visit to collect water samples but must be carried out between 15th April and the 30th June. However, this technique cannot be used to ascertain population size; therefore, in the event that GCN DNA is recorded within any waterbodies, traditional survey techniques must still be used to obtain population data.
Great Crested Newt Mitigation
Given the limited survey window available, it is vital that GCN survey work is considered at an early stage and planned to avoid the risk of needing to carry out the further survey work the following year. This includes obtaining permission from any third-party landowners to survey any identified ponds situated outside the applicant’s ownership. Our experienced ecologists will be able to help you through this process and advise you on an appropriate survey strategy and schedule.
In the event that surveys detailed above confirm great crested newts as being present within any surveyed ponds then a mitigation strategy would need to be prepared which would need to accompany the planning application. The mitigation strategy would include very specific avoidance, mitigation and compensation measures (i.e. habitat creation / enhancement measures within a designated receptor site, translocation of great crested newts from the development to the receptor site, sensitive timing of any habitat clearance works etc) as well as any long-term management and monitoring obligations, the overall purpose of which is to ensure that the favourable conservation status of the great crested newt population is maintained. Our experienced ecologists will be able to help you through this process, working collaboratively with yourself and the rest of the design team, to devise and implement a suitable mitigation strategy.
Once planning permission has been granted and prior to commencing works a Natural England European Protected Species Licence (EPSL) in respect to great crested newts may be required to permit works that would otherwise contravene legislation pertaining to great crested newts. The mitigation strategy as well as a method statement and reasoned statement (if required) would accompany this EPSL. Natural England may take between two to three months to review and hopefully approve the EPSL. Again, our experienced and licenced ecologists will be able to help through this licence process, applying for it on your behalf.
I should briefly mention a new initiative that essential eliminates entirely the traditional survey and licensing process detailed above, which is a new approach which is being trialled in Kent and a few other counties in the UK. This is called District Level Licencing (DLL).
If your project qualifies for DLL then Natural England will assess your site and all of the information provided and provide you with a payment certificate stating how much you will have to pay to compensate for the loss of the suitable aquatic and terrestrial great crested newt habitat within the development site, as well as a fee for joining the DLL scheme. This is essentially a process and contractual agreement between the applicant and Natural England with very little involvement from the ecologist although our experienced ecologists will be able to help advise you through this process if needed.
Initial feedback from some of our clients that have adopted DLL on their projects are that this process can be significantly more expensive than the traditional survey and licensing route. Unfortunately, there is no way of knowing how much the DLL route will cost until you have submitted an enquiry form, which itself costs £684.
Please click the link below for our free ecological survey calendar.
FREE Essential Ecological Survey Calendar for Land Purchasers & Developers
If you are working on a development opportunity and require an ecological survey, please get in contact and one of our experienced ecological consultants today.