Wealden presented with award for great crested newt scheme

Image from WDC

Wealden District Council has been presented with the ‘Up and Coming LPA Award’ in the 2022 Nature Space Annual Awards for the great crested newt District Licensing Scheme.

The award was presented to Wealden’s biodiversity and arboriculture officer, Ben Rainbow by Kim Roll-Baldwin, Sussex newt officer from NatureSpace Partnership.

The council was one of only three award winners from more than 50 participating local planning authorities in England and was recognised for its enthusiastic and adept adoption of the District Licensing Scheme.

Since joining the NatureSpace Scheme in October 2021, Wealden District Council has successfully embedded the scheme into its planning practices and has ensured a smooth roll out across the local authority area. In this time, they have contributed significantly to landscape-scale conservation of great crested newts and wider freshwater biodiversity within the Wealden district.

To date, 11 development projects have been authorised to use Wealden’s District Licence. NatureSpace and The Newt Conservation Partnership have created or restored five ponds and 18.5 hectares of terrestrial habitat for great crested newts as a result of these development impacts. As more developments join the scheme, more habitats will be created.

Councillor Ann Newton, Wealden District Council’s portfolio holder for planning and development, said, “I am proud that Wealden council has won this award. We live in an area of outstanding natural beauty, which is home to many protected species. It is important to keep conservation within the area thriving and encourage new growth.”

The great crested newt population has declined dramatically in the UK over the last 50 years. Despite protection under UK and European wildlife law, numbers are still declining, and habitat loss is their biggest threat.

The District Licence Scheme is designed as a partnership between NatureSpace, The Newt Conservation Partnership and leading NGO’s, the Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust and Freshwater Habitats Trust to ensure that conservation and development can work together to support protection of this species.

To mark the award, Ben Rainbow, Wealden’s biodiversity and arboriculture officer and Kim Roll-Baldwin, NatureSpace‘s newt officer for Sussex gathered for a presentation event at the council’s office in Hailsham.

Dr Tom Tew, chief executive of NatureSpace, said, “Very well done to Wealden District Council which has implemented the NatureSpace District Licensing Scheme in its planning practices to protect great crested newts in the UK.”

 

Source WDC Press office

 

 

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