Milton Keynes Council has been commended for its determined efforts to work with partners to protect the habitats of great crested newts.
The council has won the Collaboration Award in the 2022 NatureSpace Awards – one of only three award winners nationally from more than 50 participating local authorities in England.
The award was given in recognition of the council’s collaborative relationship with NatureSpace Partnership.
Milton Keynes Council has held a great crested newt Organisational Licence since 2018, which has enabled the impacts caused by developments to be recognised, and in turn, fund landscape-scale conservation freshwater biodiversity.
The District Licensing Scheme offers a simple and streamlined solution for great crested newt mitigation. It provides developers with a quick, straightforward, and risk-free way to deal with newt obligations, with the added benefit of greatly improving conservation outcomes for the species.
To date, over 45 development projects have been authorised to use Milton Keynes Council’s District Licence.
“We’re very proud of our outstanding green infrastructure and will continue to create environments that protect species and make Milton Keynes a green and pleasant place for everyone to enjoy.”
Interim Cabinet Member for the Public Realm, Cllr Paul Trendall
The great crested newt (GCN) population has declined dramatically in the UK over the last 50 years. Despite protection under UK and European wildlife law, numbers are still declining, and habitat loss is their biggest threat.
The NatureSpace scheme, approved by Natural England, speeds up development delivery by providing an alternative way of working under a GCN licence, with no need to wait for the short seasonal survey window. In addition, applicants using the scheme through the council pay monies which are used to create high-quality aquatic and terrestrial habitat for the species within Milton Keynes.
To mark the award, representatives from Milton Keynes Council, NatureSpace and the Newt Conservation Partnership gathered at a compensation site in the east of Milton Keynes, to see the habitat creation that has been developed for great crested newts at the site, which includes the delivery of five freshwater ponds and hibernacula.
“A huge well done to Milton Keynes Council who have embedded the NatureSpace District Licence Scheme across not just planning, but also policy in the local planning authority area, ensuring that impacts to GCN are compensated for and delivered in a sustainable way.
Dr Tom Tew, Chief Executive of NatureSpace
“We have been working with Milton Keynes Council for over four years now and the impact of how they have embedded the scheme in their development planning is clear to see. They are a great team and we are pleased to be able to shine a light on their hard work which at its core has a commitment to protecting the environment.”
NatureSpace and the Newt Conservation Partnership have created or restored more than 20 ponds, made more than 94 hectares of terrestrial habitat available for great crested newts and more than £676,000 has been paid towards conservation within Milton Keynes. Since 2018, the District Licence Scheme has put more than £3.8 million towards conservation of the great crested newts across all the operational areas of the Scheme in England, creating or restoring more than 170 ponds.
The Scheme creates excellent quality habitats across the landscape, providing net gain not only for great crested newts but also a wide range of other biodiversity.
