NatureSpace is now offering even more developers the opportunity to join an innovative scheme which provides a quick, simple, certain and sustainable solution for meeting their legal obligations to great crested newts – and delivers a great conservation scheme at the same time. Today the company is announcing the scheme’s expansion into Northamptonshire.
With an unfortunate reputation for causing significant delays to development, great crested newts are nevertheless a protected species in the UK and their numbers are declining. NatureSpace runs a District Licensing Scheme, approved by Natural England, which removes the risk and uncertainty for planners and developers and dramatically speeds up the licensing process. It also ensures a sustainable future for great crested newts by creating and managing new habitats across the region. The scheme brings particular benefits to housebuilders, but is accessible to all developers, from householders to major infrastructure and commercial development projects.
Today’s announcement is a significant development, increasing the geographical area covered by the NatureSpace scheme to over 10,000km². Northamptonshire is a natural area of expansion for the NatureSpace scheme, which has been operating successfully for 3 years in the South Midlands, including in the neighbouring districts of South Northamptonshire, Bedford Borough and Milton Keynes.
The extra areas now covered by the scheme are the new West Northamptonshire Council, a new unitary authority serving the previous administrative areas of Daventry District, Northampton Borough and South Northamptonshire, and the new North Northamptonshire Council, a new unitary authority serving Wellingborough, Kettering, Corby and East Northamptonshire.
Cllr Steven North, North Northamptonshire Council Executive member for Growth and Regeneration, said: “I welcome this move, as it offers a more streamlined way to deal with the issues of great crested newts on development sites.
“There are advantages to developers as it makes things easier for them, while at the same time – and very importantly – it doesn’t compromise the welfare of the newts. In fact, there are advantages for the newts in that they will get larger areas of linked-up and well-managed habitat.”
NatureSpace CEO, Dr Tom Tew commented: “We are delighted to see the scheme expand into Northamptonshire with our new partner Planning Authorities – it is positive news for both developers and great crested newts. The scheme provides developers of all sizes and types with a certain and risk-free solution to meeting their great crested newt obligations.
“The scheme offers developers a much quicker and simpler option that sees all newt-related aspects of a project being sorted at the beginning of the process and without the need for expensive seasonal surveys, which can often cause delays. Once planning consent is granted the developer can start work immediately without worrying about seeking a separate licence from Natural England for great crested newts – and with no long-term obligations for the developer. Through our scheme, developers make one simple contribution to compensate for the impacts of their project and put an end to spiraling mitigation costs.”
Duncan Chadwick, Partner at David Lock Associates, said: “Using the NatureSpace District Licensing Scheme helped speed up the planning process for us. If we’d have gone down the traditional route, we would have had to wait at least another two months before we could even survey the site for great crested newts. This way, we could get the ball rolling much quicker, and we found the process to provide a lot more certainty for us and for our client.”
Working with the Newt Conservation Partnership and supported by the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust and the Freshwater Habitats Trust, the scheme creates at least four new ponds for every great crested newt pond lost as part of a landscape-scale and long-term conservation strategy. The scheme has already delivered over £1,000,000 towards conservation projects for great crested newts, with more than 100 development sites authorised under the District Licensing Scheme to date. All the wildlife habitats created and restored under the scheme are designed and delivered by experts according to a conservation strategy which expands and re-connects high quality habitats across the region. This improves the conservation status of both great crested newts and lots of other wildlife and helps to deliver both sustainable development and ‘biodiversity net gain’ for NatureSpace’s Local Planning Authority partners.
South Oxfordshire and the Vale of the White Horse District Councils have been a part of the NatureSpace scheme for the last three years. To date, they have helped raised over £240,000 for great crested newt habitats. Councillor Anne-Marie Simpson, South Cabinet Member for Planning, recently commented: “Our great crested newt populations are an important part of our natural world and the rich ecology and biodiversity of our district. I am so pleased that [we can] not only mitigate for any habitat lost from essential building work but also provide better ponds and areas where newts and other species can thrive.”
NatureSpace Partnership now works with 19 Local Planning Authorities, enabling them to authorise developments in their region under a great crested newt District Licence. The demand for the scheme continues to increase and the initiative is expanding to a further 30 Local Planning Authorities in the coming months. To learn more about the NatureSpace scheme and how it can help support your development, please visit: www.naturespaceuk.com/district-licensing-scheme.
