How to apply for a licence
If you're planning to do development work, or any other work that may affect great crested newts, you'll need to apply for a licence from Natural England.
You can apply in the following ways:
- Greater Manchester district level licensing scheme, which is simpler than applying for a GCN Mitigation Licence
- GCN Mitigation Licence
- via an ecologist, who is a registered consultant under our low-impact class licence scheme
Benefits
District level licensing:
- better protects great crested newts
- is simple to use
- offers developers certainty in terms of costs and timescales
- means developments that have been through planning will not be held up by drawn out post-planning licensing
- results in lots of high value, secure ponds for newts which are managed and monitored long term
Cost
Natural England have written a document that explains the breakdown of fees and how they calculate the cost to join the district level licensing scheme. It also provides examples.
Webinars
In autumn 2019, Natural England ran a series of webinars with the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM). They provide more information about the scheme:
- How the scheme works
- eDNA survey and data collection
- Species distribution modelling
- Habitat delivery for the scheme
- How to apply
Natural England survey for great crested newts
As part of the district level licensing project, Natural England completed the largest ever survey of its type for great crested newts across England. It was funded by the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).
Read more about Natural England’s Geography in Government Award for their species distribution modelling for the district level licensing project on the GOV.UK website.
