New newts licence saves £85k

New licensing processes introduced in April 2013 are saving time for developers and consultants and helping Natural England to reduce costs for those it regulates

Natural England reported in December that a new annexed licensing system for great crested newts had reduced the number of newt licence re-submissions by up to 25% and produced estimated savings of £85,000 in its first eight months.

The process enables minor issues to be resolved between the applicant and Natural England without the need to resubmit the entire method statement and supporting documents.

As well as reducing paperwork and process costs, this approach helps developers avoid delays to projects, which can be critical when dealing with species that hibernate, says Natural England.

The success of the newt scheme means that annexed licences will be introduced in the spring to cover bats and dormice.