The Oxford to Cambridge Growth Arc has been a nationally hot topic since 2016, when the government agenda identified this corridor as a key strategic development link in enabling this area to become the United Kingdom’s equivalent to ‘Silicon Valley’ cementing a place on the World’s stage for technology, innovation and science¹. The Government also pledged to support the infrastructure of the Corridor by promising to fund the delivery of the East-West rail link, the Oxford to Cambridge Expressway as well as promoting the joined-up thinking between these and housing and employment opportunities. 

The ministerial foreword on the vision in the published document ‘The Oxford-Cambridge Arc – Government ambition and joint declaration between Government and local partners’ (March 2019) by Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, sets out its ambitions.  This includes providing up to ‘one million high-quality new homes by 2050’, in order to tackle the housing market deficit across the region. The government has reconfirmed the importance of natural capital in forward planning and placemaking so that we create ‘sustainable places for people and for wildlife’ and leave the environment in a better state for the future. 

The community, stakeholders and Local Authorities have an opportunity  to shape the region, to deliver the necessary  infrastructure and development sustainably and  safeguard the environment. 

NatureSpace has developed a novel approach to protected species licensing which can enable the progression of nationally significant development, whilst also ensuring the protection of a widespread but declining protected species – the great crested newt – and delivering demonstrable conservation outcomes for this and a range of other wildlife.

The great crested newt has long been thought of as a problem to development, causing delays and excessive costs for those involved and sadly delivering little evidence of conservation gains for the species. However, that no longer needs to be the case. Working with Local Planning Authorities  within the Arc, NatureSpace have secured the provision of a series of district-wide great crested newt licences under which the Local Planning Authorities are able to authorise development simply and quickly at the same time as granting planning consent. This district licensing scheme provides developers with certainty and creates a sustainable way to manage and conserve great crested newts populations³. Recently, NatureSpace attended the Built Environment Networking Event – Oxford to Cambridge Growth Arc Development Conference, where we were able to engage with a key audience in supporting development and infrastructure delivery in the Growth Arc and ensuring this protected species is dealt with appropriately in the planning process and conserved in the long-term. 

This is a nationally significant project that will look to launch the Oxford – Cambridge Arc and the United Kingdom into the world arena of science and technology.  It is now more important than ever to enable the delivery of housing, employment and supporting infrastructure and at the same time ensure the conservation and safeguarding of the natural environment. The NatureSpace District Licensing scheme makes the process of licensing simpler, quicker and more certain for development, enabling the growth required for the region, whilst ensuring the long-term conservation of a protected species and delivering gains for wider biodiversity.