Guidance

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.

• From: Natural England and Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
• Published: 25 July 2022
• Last updated: 1 November 2024 — See all updates

Applies to England

Documents

How to join the great crested newt district level licensing scheme

HTML

District level licensing enquiry form

PDF, 706 KB, 7 pages

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District level licensing application form

PDF, 323 KB, 7 pages

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Ecologists: how to provide pond and waterbody data for district level licensing

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Details

Guidance for:

• developers on how to join a district level licensing scheme to develop land that may affect great crested newts
• ecologists on how to supply data from site surveys

If a district level licensing scheme does not operate in your area, you must apply for a mitigation licence to carry out work that affects great crested newts.

Guidance is also available on district level licensing schemes for local planning authorities.

For more information, email Natural England.

Email: gcndll@naturalengland.org.uk

Published 25 July 2022
Last updated 1 November 2024 + show all updates

1. 1 November 2024

   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.

2. 11 December 2023

   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'.

3. 30 January 2023

   Under NatureSpace district level licensing scheme: removed Elmbridge from the list of exclusions in Surrey as the scheme now operates in this area.

4. 15 December 2022

   Uploaded an updated version of the enquiry form and added Cumbria to the list of Natural England-led schemes.

5. 24 October 2022

   Uploaded updated versions of the application and enquiry forms.

6. 24 October 2022

   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.

7. 25 August 2022

   Updated how to renew your licence. You must request renewal of your licence at least 1 month before it expires.

8. 25 July 2022

   First published.