NatureSpace were very kindly hosted by Milton Keynes Council at Milton Keynes Civic Offices on 21st November, to deliver our Autumn Conference. This was presented to our wider Local Authority partners, the Newt Conservation Partnership and representatives from the leading freshwater and amphibian non-Government Organisations, – the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust (ARC) and the Freshwater Habitats Trust (FHT).
NatureSpace, along with the Newt Conservation Partnership, provided feedback on the scheme over the last 20 months of operation. This included development insights, impacts vs. compensation, preliminary results year 1 monitoring and the site selection process for compensation. It also provided an opportunity for the Local Planning Authorities holding a licence to speak with each other about their experiences of the scheme so far.
The conference provided operational updates and in-depth analysis of planning need, development uptake and compensation delivery and fed back to the wider partners on some key findings and results to date.
The first session focused on development and was delivered by Dr Tom Tew from NatureSpace. Key points included:
- There are now 16 local planning authorities that hold their own great crested newt District Licence,
- > 250 enquiries from development projects into the use of the scheme,
- > 70 projects joining the scheme throughout the South Midlands region,
- The average second stage fees for red minor zones, although capped at £50,000 were just over £1200* using the licence.
- The average second stages fees for small-scale major red zone, although capped at £90,000 were just under £39,500* and large-scale major red zone, although uncapped second stage fees are just over £31,500*.
(*every application is assessed on its own case by case basis, this is an indicative figure based on the projects joining the DL process to date).
The second session focused on compensation under the conservation strategy, this was delivered by Pete Case and Dr Andrew Buxton from the Newt Conservation Partnership. Key points included:
- Over 50 ponds have created and/or restored and over 170ha of terrestrial land compensated for great crested newts through the use of the scheme,
- Over £400,000 has been put into great crested newt conservation by developers input into the scheme,
- The first year of preliminary monitoring has found >40% compensation sites have been occupied by great crested newts within 1 year of creation*
- GCN eggs have been found at two sites evidencing breeding within a year of creation*
(*this is the first year of monitoring that has been undertaken, so it is not yet possible to confirm any trends within our data).
The third and final session of the day looked at some practical case studies and feedback from the use of the district licensing scheme so far. This session was incredibly useful to all involved and it was lovely to hear some great feedback from some of the developers using the scheme including the Oxley Park development by Taylor Wimpey.
NatureSpace and the Newt Conservation Partnership would like to thank all of those involved in supporting the scheme over the last two years, helping to deliver not only benefits for development but also to provide a legacy for great crested newt conservation.
If you’d like to learn more about our scheme or would like to see how you can get involved, please let us know.
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