Newt Fencing

Developers must undertake habitat surveys, and where required, extended protected species surveys.     

These surveys consider the habitat potential of a site for protected species like the Great Crested Newt; they identify whether they are actually present, and where present define their population size.     

If a site has great crested newts, developers then use the survey information and, alongside their ecologist, apply for a European Protect Species Licence (EPSL). Within this application the developer must outline their plans to mitigate the impact of the project on the resident great crested newt population.      

The developer will most probably be required to mitigate for lost habitat, enhance existing habitat and set out how newts will be translocated from the construction areas to make way for the development. This mitigation strategy must be approved by Natural England and be undertaken under the EPSL – all of which Three Shires can assist with.  

Newt fencing is installed for a variety of different reasons including being used to ring fence a construction area to prevent newts from entering the construction footprint during the works should none be present but GCN are known to be present within the local area thus allowing works to take place in a GCN free zone.   

Alternatively newt fencing can be installed around an area known to contain GCN with a trapping and translocation period then following whereby pitfall traps (buckets) are installed into the ground inside and touching the fence line so that any GCN (or other amphibians and small mammals) within the fenced area fall into the traps and are relocated daily by licensed ecologists. This is carried out over a time referred to as the trapping and translocation period as stipulated within the EPS license with the effort dictated by the population size; for low populations the minimum is 30 days, for medium populations the minimum is 60 days and for high populations the minimum of 90 days. Trapping can only cease once 5 clear days (days without finding newts) have been achieved passed the minimum.