Great crested newts: district level licensing schemes for developers and ecologists
Apply to join a district level licensing scheme to develop land that may affect great crested newts and supply any survey data you collect.
Applies to England
Documents
Update history
2025-04-01 09:30
Added information in the enquiry form and guidance about a variable fee, which will be charged where a development is categorised as a complex case. Further details about complex cases has been added to the guidance on ‘How to join the great crested newt district level licensing scheme’.Updated the guidance about what survey information ecologists need to submit to Natural England in ‘Ecologists: how to provide pond and waterbody data for district level licensing’:- survey information must have been collected within the past 5 survey seasons- a waterbody must be labelled as ‘P’ if GCN have been recorded at least once over the previous 5 survey seasons
2025-01-30 14:48
We have removed Telford and Wrekin listed under ‘Where district level licensing schemes operate’ and Telford and Wrekin Strategic Newt Licencing listed under ‘Local planning authority-led district level licensing schemes’ as this area is now incorporated into the Shropshire strategy area.
2024-11-01 16:30
Updated the guidance with information on what you should do if you are considering applying for a district level licence for a development site that has ponds within the proposed red line boundary.
2023-12-11 00:30
Added Hertfordshire to the list of Natural England district level licensing scheme areas and Hampshire and West Sussex to the list of NatureSpace district level licensing scheme areas on ‘How to join the great crested newt district level licensing scheme’.
2023-01-30 11:47
Under NatureSpace district level licensing scheme: removed Elmbridge from the list of exclusions in Surrey as the scheme now operates in this area.
2022-12-15 16:52
Uploaded an updated version of the enquiry form and added Cumbria to the list of Natural England-led schemes.
2022-10-24 10:11
Uploaded updated versions of the application and enquiry forms.
2022-10-24 09:30
Updated title, subheading and details to reflect the new guidance added for ecologists. Added new guidance for ecologists on supplying survey data. Updated the guidance ‘Developers: how to join the great crested newt district level licensing scheme’ – included a link to what to include in your GIS polygon shapefile.
2022-08-25 14:52
Updated how to renew your licence. You must request renewal of your licence at least 1 month before it expires.
2022-07-25 14:42
First published.