Licensing for Great Crested Newt

We are currently receiving a high number of planning applications which is resulting in delays to our usual response times. We are determining applications and responding to enquiries in the order they are received. We will respond as soon as possible.

If you are a developer proposing to develop land where your work will disturb or damage great crested newt (GCN) habitat (ponds and land around ponds). You must apply for a mitigation licence to prevent any illegal actions to this protected species.

There are now a few different ways to apply for a licence from Natural England to enable development or other work that may affect Great Crested Newt:

District Level Licensing:

The whole of Derbyshire County including South Derbyshire operate a District Level Licensing (DLL) scheme which is a simpler and quicker option to applying for a Great Crested Newt mitigation licence.

Benefits of District Level Licensing:

  • Better conserves Great Crested Newt
  • Is simple to use
  • Offers developers certainty in terms of costs and timescales
  • Means developments that have been through planning will not be held up by protracted post-planning licensing
  • Results in lots of high value, secure ponds for newts which are managed and monitored for the long term

GCN Mitigation Licence:

The GCN Mitigation Licence is the traditional licence that can be applied for from Natural England.

This is required if the work that is proposed will have an impact on Great Crested Newts and their habitat that would otherwise be illegal this includes;

  • Obstructing access to their habitat
  • Damaging or destroying their breeding or resting places
  • Injuring , disturbing or capturing them

An assessment of the overall impacts of the proposed development on the GCN population and the future mitigation across the whole of the project is required to be supplied as part of the application for the mitigation licence.

The work that can be carried out under a mitigation licence is limited in the time period that it can be undertaken in order to minimise the risk to the GCN population within the area.

A Low Impact Class licence:

  • This scheme only applies where impacts to Great Crested Newt and their habitat are considered to be small scale. This is implemented through a consultant ecologist who is registered for the scheme.