The new approach has been piloted in partnership with Woking borough council in Surrey. It has focused on bringing the greatest benefits to the amphibians while streamlining the licensing process for housing developers. The approach will now start to be introduced across the country after its roll-out was announced in the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Housing White Paper today.

This new 3-year programme will survey areas where newts are most prevalent, map the potential impacts of development and propose local conservation strategies for the species in partnership. As part of the project, great crested newt habitat is enhanced or created prior to any development taking place, saving developers time and money, and making newt populations more healthy and resilient.

In May 2016, Woking borough council was awarded an organisational licence, allowing it to authorise operations that may affect great crested newts on development sites at the same time as planning permission, removing the need for expensive surveys prior to building works and individual licences to disturb newts if they are present. As part of the project, great crested newt habitat is enhanced or created prior to any development taking place, saving developers time and money, and making newt populations more healthy and resilient.

Natural England’s Chairman, Andrew Sells, said:

We are grateful to DCLG for funding the national roll-out of this ambitious new approach to the licensing of great crested newts. It is a ringing endorsement of Natural England’s work to modernise the licensing of protected species.

Populations of great crested newts can struggle when they become isolated. Creating connected habitats across the country is the single most positive thing we can do for their survival, by allowing them to spread naturally.

At the same time, the strategic approach to licensing helps developers to avoid costs and delays to their projects. This roll-out is key to helping us ensure that regulation better serves both the natural environment and the economy.

Housing and Planning Minister Gavin Barwell said:

We are taking decisive action to support developers to build out more quickly so that we can deliver the homes this country needs.

This new approach to managing great crested newts will not only ensure the continued protection of this rare species and its habitat, but will safeguard developers from the delays, costs and uncertainty which have so often restricted the job of building new homes.

Great crested newts are rare across Europe, although can be locally abundant in the UK. They are protected by law, meaning that disturbance or damage to the newts or their habitat requires a European protected species licence. Currently, licences for this striking amphibian are issued on a site-by-site basis. National implementation of the new approach will benefit newts at population level across the landscape.

Dr Tony Gent, CEO of Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, said:

The regulations and planning processes that have been put in place to help conserve the great crested newt have too often failed to provide the long term conservation outcomes that they need to reverse the historic and continuing declines of its populations.

This new initiative provides an opportunity for real gains for great crested newts, by improving the way that regulations are applied. We are keen to work with Natural England on this initiative to ensure that real, sustainable benefits can be achieved for the species.

Stephen Trotter, Director, The Wildlife Trusts England, said:

I welcome the announcement of this funding – it’s potentially great news for newts. Natural England has listened to concerns about how the new system will be rolled-out and this funding gives some reassurance that the Government’s commitment to the conservation and recovery of this declining amphibian is genuine. The Wildlife Trusts support the aims and objectives of the new approach. We strongly agree that everyone’s priority should be to create new, joined-up habitats which will help the population of this fantastic species to recover. The Wildlife Trusts will work closely with Natural England to ensure the roll-out of the new approach is a success.

President of the Country Land and Business Association, Ross Murray, said:

The licensing process is one of the most cited sources of frustration and cost for our members seeking to invest in building homes or business premises in the countryside. The harm is particularly felt by those pursuing small scale developments.

This initiative has the potential to transform habitat preservation for important species, while at the same time reducing costs and uncertainty for landowners considering development across England.

We welcome the proactive way that Natural England has sought to address this problem and to Ministers for having the confidence to provide the necessary investment to roll this out.

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Mick, a young male, fledged in Northumberland last summer. He was fitted with a satellite tag in July by a hen harrier expert from Natural England. His tag stopped transmitting on 21 December 2016 in the Thwaite area of North Yorkshire. A search of the area has been carried out but no trace of the bird or equipment has been found.

Natural England reported Mick’s disappearance to North Yorkshire Police and is working closely with wildlife crime officers, local landowners, the Moorland Association and the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

The loss of another juvenile hen harrier brings the total to five within four months across northern England – and is a serious blow to the small English hen harrier population. Interference with hen harriers is a criminal offence.

Rob Cooke, a Director at Natural England, said:

The disappearance of a hen harrier is deeply concerning to all who appreciate these rare and impressive birds. Any information that can shed light on what has happened to Mick will be gratefully received by North Yorkshire Police.

David Butterworth, Chief Executive at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority said:

It’s incredibly disappointing that the Yorkshire Dales’ reputation as a wonderful place to visit is being damaged by incidents like this. We have pledged to provide whatever support we can to help the Police and Natural England find out what happened in this particular case.

Anyone with any information which could help police with their enquiries should contact North Yorkshire Police on 101, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111. Please quote reference number 12170014975 when passing information.

Ladies and gentlemen,

It gives me immense pleasure to be speaking here today at sustainable cities: building a UK partnership case for Karnataka.

I have been in Bengaluru for over a year now and I now know why it is called the start up city, innovation city and known by many other names.

In spite of the multiple names, the strength of a city is its people. I won’t cite statistics in a room full of experts. We are aware that cities are growing at much faster rate due to inflow of people in search of better jobs, amenities and a better standard of living. But at the same time, this inflow is putting pressure on the available resources and that is why urban planning becomes crucial.

The choices that are made today on building designs, waste management, water, energy and food systems, urban ecosystem management, transportation, infrastructure development and retrofitting will have critical implication for future urban habitats.

It is therefore vital to have an integrated and innovative approach as we try to future-proof our cities in the light of changing climate, rising energy prices, increasing demand for water and space.

The UK supports the ‘Make in India’ campaign, as does UK business. The UK is also committed to supporting India’s goal of ‘100 Smart Cities’. Karnataka is developing Mangaluru, Shivamogga, Belagavi, Hubballi-Dharwad, Tumakuru, Davangere and also Bengaluru as smart cities.

UK companies are keen to support India across the entire span of the four-pillar smart city framework/sustainable urbanisation. We have expertise in infrastructure – from smart transport and mobility to water and waste management – in digital – particularly in fin tech and e-commerce – and in design, professional services, healthcare and e-governance.

2012 London Olympics is a good example of developing East London on the principles of sustainable urbanisation where the Olympic Park was created on once contaminated industrial land. 240 electric and hybrid cars were used, food packaging used was compostable, sourcing of materials for various structures was sustainable, and water harvesting, natural lighting lightweight building materials were used. Post the games the waste generated was waste was diverted from landfill, with 62% of that waste being reused, recycled or composted.

• UK’s capabilities lie in urban design, planning and architecture
• UK construction and civil engineering firms lead major urban infrastructure developments worldwide
• there are now over 3,384 low carbon emission buses in the UK. 1,500 hybrid electric buses and 15 pure electric buses also run on London roads. Around 3,000 buses are expected to run on biodiesel, renewable biodiesel from waste products, including cooking oil and tallow from the meat processing trade
• 3.6 GW is generated from off-shore wind, more than anywhere else in the world
• UK is the first developed economy to commit to phase out unabated coal by 2025
• UK remains committed to tackling climate change at home and supporting developing nations to deliver their own climate change goals

Sustainability requires holistic consideration of social, economic and environmental dimensions of urban challenges to develop solutions that meet future needs.

I look forward to hearing your views on sustainable solutions to developing sustainable cities in India.

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For the purposes of reporting, greenhouse gas emissions are allocated into a small number of broad, high level sectors as follows: energy supply, business, transport, public, residential, agriculture, industrial processes, land use land use change and forestry (LULUCF), and waste management.

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