WILTSHIRE Council has agreed on new measures to protect the county’s great crested newt population.
On Tuesday the council pledged to adopt Natural England’s District Level Licensing (DLL) scheme which is intended to protect great crested newts numbers and enable them to flourish in more suitable locations.
Councillors welcomed the new protection, as the population has deteriorated in recent years due to changes in their habitats.
Currently licences for the newts are determined on a site to site basis and require the agreement of Natural England.
The DLL also seeks to reduce the cost on developers who find the European protected species on their land, holding up work.
Cllr Toby Sturgis, cabinet member for spatial planning, development management and investment, said: “I think this is good news for the great crested newt and good news for Wiltshire because we will hopefully not have planning applications held up for surveys, relocations and agreements to build newt hotels.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here