Amphibians

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To begin with I assess the proposed development site itself and any other terrestrial features that amphibians might find shelter beneath. I also identify any ponds on OS maps within the zone of influence – typically 250m from the development boundaries. These ponds, where possible, will be assessed with the Habitat Suitability Index (HSI) to give an approximate idea of their value to great crested newts.

A mitigation strategy can then be determined, with several potential avenues to go down.

It is often possible to produce a simple method statement without any additional surveys. This can ensure that your development can proceed without any negative impact on local amphibians, and might include simple things like keeping materials stored on pallets to avoid creating nice bits of shelter that a newt might love to hide beneath.

Traditionally, newt populations are conducted by leaving bottle traps in a pond overnight and seeing what is caught by the morning. With up to six individual visits over spring, the local population size can be estimated. This information can then be used to obtain a mitigation licence if necessary.

This is a relatively new type of licence that is only available in England. To use this you don’t need to even look at the ponds if you don’t want to. It is a purely desktop exercise where the size of the development is put into a calculator alongside how many ponds are within the zone of influence. This generates a cost based on how much disruption to local GCN is expected. That payment covers the enhancement of known hotspots of great crested newts, aiming to provide long-term populations in the country with security. Once the payment is made, you have your licence and the development can proceed. In some cases, further mitigation may still be required but this is not always the case.

Amphibians in the UK are all protected, but the main cause of developer concern is great crested newts (Triturus cristatus). Like other newts, GCN live most of their life on land, only using water bodies to breed in the spring. Their eggs don’t have hard shells to keep in the moisture, so they lay them on small leaves, fold the leaf over and glue it shut to protect the egg in development.

Once the egg hatches, the tiny tadpole will spend its first entire year in the water, before leaving to spend its adult life mostly on land. They are vulnerable on land and so need protection and shelter, ideally under features like log piles, plant pots, rockeries etc. I have even seen newts coming through a freshly broken crack in a large concrete pad, meaning they had wormed their way below the concrete for several meters.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 has been amended by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW) 2000. This applies to England and Wales only. The key relevant fact is:

Section 9(4) is amended to create an additional offence of reckless damage to, destruction of, or obstruction of access to, any structure or place used for shelter or protection; and reckless disturbance while occupying such a structure or place.

Great crested newts are protected under the Conservation of Habitats and Species (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 which implements the EC Directed 92/43/EEC in the United Kingdom. It is an offence, with certain exceptions, to:

• Deliberately capture or kill any wild animal of a European Protected Species.
• Deliberately disturb any such animal.
• Deliberately take or destroy eggs of any such wild animal.
• Damage or destroy a breeding site or resting place of such a wild animal.
• Keep (possess), transport, sell or exchange, or offer for sale or exchange, any live or dead wild animal or plant of a European Protected Species, or any part of, or anything derived from such a wild animal or plant.