”Dear Secretaries of State,

We were delighted to receive your open letter of 20 July concerning the integration of housing and environmental targets – the best possible start to a new Government. The key message, that sustainable economic growth depends upon a healthy natural environment, refuting the false dichotomy of growth or environment, is uplifting to those of us who have been practising this ethos for the last decade.

Further, an example of the exact delivery mechanisms you set out – a partnership within and across sectors that delivers a win-win for sustainable growth and wildlife – already exists and has been in operation for 6 years now across many of England’s Local Authorities.

NatureSpace operates ‘District Licensing’ for the great crested newt – a declining and highly protected species that has the potential to encumber economic growth. We are a private sector mission-led environmental company, regulated by Natural England to operate in partnership with over 65 Local Authorities. The District Licensing scheme we run delivers three things:

• it saves Local Authorities time and resources, it offers developers a quick, simple and certain route through the legislation, saving them time and money; our responsive service speeds up development and provides clarity, it delivers fantastic environmental outcomes for great crested newts – the first ever landscape-scale, long-term, fully monitored, spatial conservation strategy that is funded by developers without a penny of taxpayers’ money.

The developers’ funds are allocated to the freshwater & amphibian NGOs and held by them in perpetuity in an asset-locked Community Benefit Society to build and look after hundreds of wildlife ponds every year, which are hosted by landowners of all types. In the NatureSpace scheme, all sectors (Government, Local Authorities, housebuilders, NGOs, landowners) are working in partnership to deliver rapid sustainable economic growth and wildlife conservation.

We have last year extended the scheme to national infrastructure providers – helping organisations such as Network Rail deliver their capital and operational programmes without incurring delays.

I do hope, as the Planning and Infrastructure Bill evolves over the coming weeks to help shape a better planning system, that officials from both departments will feel free to get in touch so that we can pass on our experience of, and consider extending, existing best practice; NatureSpace, and our colleagues from across the Newt Conservation Partnership and our LPAs, would be delighted to help your officials in any way possible.

Yours sincerely

Dr T E Tew
CEO NatureSpace”