We can consider on-site retention, enhancement or creation measures in our District Licensing assessment if you secure them with a 25-year habitat management and monitoring plan (HMMP), and provide high value great crested newt habitat.

Where on-site BNG measures also provide mitigation for great crested newts, it is important that additionality rules are satisfied. DEFRA’s policy is that mandatory biodiversity unit gain above ‘No Net Loss’ in the BNG metric must adhere to strict additionality rules – however, sufficient units to reach No Net Loss may be multipurpose (species and BNG compensation).

If you think any on-site retention, enhancement or creation measures would qualify, please contact us to discuss. If you have not yet applied to use the District Licensing Scheme, please email info@naturespaceuk.com. If you’ve enquired and have an assigned case officer, please contact them directly.

No – only habitat created and managed by our delivery partner (the Newt Conservation Partnership) counts towards off-site District Licensing compensation.

We cannot consider off-site measures outside of the planning application area in the District Licence impact assessment.

District Licensing operates by cumulating compensation sites to strategically off-set impacts for all authorised developments in the county – ensuring a positive ratio of compensation delivery compared to impacts within the area. This facilitates a regional compensation strategy that improves the conservation status of great crested newts locally.

The Newt Conservation Partnership design and deliver compensation habitat to meet the strict requirements required for it to count towards the District Licensing Scheme. They also manage and monitor all the sites under a long-term legal agreement.

Stacking Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) and District Licensing compensation can deliver stronger outcomes for nature by looking at the impacts of development, and the compensation needed, more holistically.

Where a development creates impacts for biodiversity, protected species and, in some cases, nutrients, it is not always proportionate to require separate compensation land for each impact. In practice, well-designed habitat creation can often provide benefits across more than one area. A stacked approach allows those benefits to be considered together, while still making sure each requirement is properly addressed.

For District Licensing compensation sites, adding habitat features for BNG can support a richer and more varied habitat design. This can increase the complexity of the site, improve its overall ecological value and help create places that work well for great crested newts and for wider biodiversity.

Stacking can also make compensation sites more viable for landowners by creating a more diverse income stream. This added financial security can help encourage landowner participation and increase the amount of suitable land available for conservation delivery.

One of the most important conservation benefits is that stacked delivery can open up funding for NatureSpace’s NGO partners to set a wider conservation agenda. This means compensation can support specialist habitats and high-distinctiveness habitat creation that may be harder to deliver through stand-alone BNG, but which can make a meaningful contribution to nature recovery.

If you’re applying to use a District Licence, the fee and application procedure are not affected by an application for our BNG units.

However, when reviewing your BNG application, we will utilise any compensation you have already paid for under the District Licensing Scheme – this will reduce the number of units you need to pay for to meet your BNG requirements. By utilising the District Licensing compensation that has already been created, we are able to pass cost-saving benefits onto developers. Your overall BNG quote will be reduced, while still providing 100% of the units needed to achieve a 10% gain on your site. To fully secure any Stacked BNG quotes with us, all of your District Licensing fees must be paid in full.