Great Crested Newt and Development

Do you have great crested newts (GCN) on your land? Penny Anderson Associates Ltd. (PAA) can help you with our bespoke service, tailored to your needs from early in the pre-planning stage. We can take you through the preliminary desk study phase to identify a potential risk, we then assess that risk through surveys, and then mitigate the risk through licensing and mitigation should this be required. All works are undertaken by vastly experienced teams familiar with current legislation and best practice in mainland Britain, and who are fully licensed to undertake GCN work.

In Britain there are three species of newt of which the Great crested newt is the largest and the only one having special legal protection. GCN are widespread in mainland Britain, but extremely localised, and have declined rapidly in number over recent years. New development and construction is often blamed for this; in many cases this is a result of their local distribution not being fully understood prior to development, or due to some other contributing factor such as pollution, neglect, and inappropriate landscape management.

GCN are protected under UK and European Law and are a material consideration in the UK planning process under the
National Planning Policy Framework. This means that all Local Planning Authorities must give due consideration to their needs when determining planning applications.

Development Licences
Where GCN must be taken into account on development sites we regularly apply for Development Licences and can offer an efficient and pragmatic approach to your specific situation.





How can PAA help?
We offer the following services to all our clients:

• Desk study: using local records and pond identification from OS maps and photographs;
• Ground-truthing, walkover, and Phase I scoping surveys;
• Pond Habitat Suitability Indices Surveys (HSI);
• Environmental DNA (eDNA) analysis to detect GCN presence;
• Traffic volume and road-use impact surveys for GCN;
• GCN Pond search and trapping surveys;
• GCN Risk Assessments;
• Detailed Method Statements for carrying out non-licensable GCN works;
• Preparation of GCN Conservation Licences;
• Preparation of GCN EPS Development Licences;
• Habitat restoration, enhancement and creation for GCN;
• Design and implementation of GCN mitigation and compensation measures;
• Post-development monitoring;
• Reports in support of planning applications and developments; and
• Provision of training for GCN workers.

For more details on our services relating to Great crested newt, please
contact us