National District Level Licensing Programme for Great Crested Newts

Tender description

Great crested newts (Triturus cristatus; GCN) are fully protected under European and domestic legislation and the Habitats Directive places an obligation on the UK to achieve their Favourable Conservation Status (FCS, as defined by Article 2 of the Habitats Directive). Although declining overall, GCN are still widespread and relatively common in some areas in which developments are planned, including in disturbed and urban environments. The Habitats Directive makes it an offence to capture, kill, injure or disturb GCN or to damage key elements of their habitats. The Habitats Directive provides for the derogation from these prohibitions for specified reasons and providing certain conditions are met. Those derogations are transposed into the domestic legislation by way of a licensing regime. As a result, GCN may cause delays in developments and require considerable survey, mitigation or compensation work. District level licensing is an alternative to the site by site great crested newt (GCN) licensing process which has been used for development up till now. It involves district wide survey of the distribution of GCN and assessment of impacts on GCN from all planned development in the district over the whole local plan period. GCN records and other environmental data are used to map zones which indicate where there are highest risks to the local conservation status of GCN and where GCN pose highest risks to development. This framework is intended to deliver data which will significantly improve the evidence base of habitat suitability for GCN across England. This will enable the development of conservation strategies for GCN, including strategic compensation areas, tying this in to planning and licensing decisions in the area. This will be carried out across approximately 136 Local Authorities in England, and will require approximately 3,000 pond surveys in 2018 and 4,800 pond surveys in 2019.