District Level Licensing for great crested newts

Find information about the District Level Licensing to protect great crested newts on development land, including how to apply to join the scheme.

Great crested newts (GCN) are a European protected species. The animals and their eggs, breeding sites and resting places are protected by law. 

If you intend to develop land where your work will disturb the GCN or damage their habitat (ponds and land surrounding ponds), you must ensure you meet the legal requirements. 

There are several ways to obtain a license from Natural England to meet these requirements:

District Level Licensing (DLL)

DLL is a new strategic approach to licensing for GCN. Traditional mitigation licensing requires on site mitigation measures. They can delay development, as some measures can only be carried out at certain times of the year. 

DLL does not require on site mitigation. Instead, developers make a payment based on the impact of their development. The conservation payment is used to create habitat off site, as a compensation. This targeted to areas where it will most benefit the GCN – making bigger, better and more joined up habitats. 

Benefits for people 

DLL benefits people in several ways:

  • it’s simple to use
  • it offers developers certainty, in terms of costs and timescales
  • developments that have been through planning will not be held up by protracted post-planning licensing 
    there’s greater flexibility in the layout in the design of development land. This is because mitigation for impacts on GCN and their habitats is not required on site
  • the scheme helps delivery of a green future
  • it provides landowners with opportunities to create or restore ponds

Benefits for GCN

Natural England produced the largest survey of its type for GCN across England, as part of DLL.

Find the results of the survey and other data 

DLL offers the following benefits for GCN: 

  • it bolsters existing newt populations, whilst improving range and connectivity
  • it makes making populations more resilient to external pressures
  • it helps us to better understand population conservation science, through monitoring ponds on a long-term basis

Applying for DLL

DLL can be used for any type of development, including:

  • major and minor housing schemes
  • infrastructure projects such as road, rail and pipelines
  • industrial/retail developments
  • social developments such as education, health and leisure
  • private developments

Find out how to apply for DLL and how much you’ll pay on GOV.UK

Organisational licenses and DLL

If you’re interested in applying for an organisational license to run a DLL scheme, please read Natural England’s GCN District Level Licensing Framework. 

The Framework sets out:

  • the overarching principles of DLL
  • how Natural England assess schemes, under relevant licensing tests and policy
  • the documents and mechanisms you're likely to need, for them to grant a license

Further information

If you’d like to find more detail about the DLL scheme, please refer to the Natural England blog posts or webinars they have presented with the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Licensing (CIEEM). We've provided links to the blogs and webinars below. 

Alternatively, you can contact Natural England at GCNDLL@naturalengland.org.uk. 

Natural England blogs posts on GOV.UK

Natural England and CIEEM webinar series on YouTube