Great crested newts: apply for a mitigation class licence for ‘low impact’ work (CL33)
How to apply for a licence to cover work that will have a low impact on great crested newts and their habitats.
The CL33 licence covers low impact work on great crested newts and their terrestrial habitats that lasts for a short time. It also permits impacts to aquatic habitats, but only where these impacts are temporary, affect ditches and are on linear schemes (like pipe or cable installations).
You should consider what effect your actions will have on great crested newts. If you cannot avoid affecting them at a site, and your work will last less than 6 months, you can use this licence:
- to disturb and capture great crested newts before relocating them to a safe place
- to damage or destroy terrestrial habitat used by great crested newts as a resting place
- to temporarily damage ditches for works on linear schemes only
You can only use this licence if:
- you’re a registered ecological consultant (‘registered consultant’)
- your action has a low or temporary impact on great crested newts or their habitats
- sites are registered before you start work
If your project does not meet these conditions, then you should apply for an individual great crested newt mitigation licence, or apply to use a district level licensing scheme.
How to register
To become a registered consultant, you must attend a 2 day training workshop and pass the training assessment. If you pass, you’ll get a registration number. This allows you to apply to register sites and carry out works.
At this time, there are no further training workshops to become a registered consultant planned until Natural England reviews the usage of this licence. Then it will make a decision on whether to run more training workshops for the CL33 licence.
How to register a site and find out if you’ll need to pay
If you are an existing registered consultant, you will have a registration number and can use this number to register sites on your licence. You’ll be given access to:
- the forms you need
- a copy of the CL33 licence
You may need to pay for a site registration
You may need to pay for a site registration for certain development work. Fill in the charge screening form and send it with your site registration form. Natural England will assess these and tell you:
- if you need to pay
- how much you’ll pay
Read the terms and conditions for paying for a wildlife licence.
When you do not need to pay
You will not pay for a licence if it’s for:
- conservation of great crested newts in their original habitats
- conservation of a historic property
- domestic home improvements
- preservation of public health and safety
How to pay
Natural England will send you an invoice when it approves your registration.
You can pay by:
- electronic bank transfer
- debit or credit card by telephone - except American Express
- cheque
Your invoice will give the details for using these payment methods.
You need to include the invoice number with your payment so Natural England can match it to your application.
VAT does not apply to charges for wildlife licences.
Natural England accepts purchase orders. If you want Natural England to add a purchase number to your invoice, you must include it in the invoice details in your charge form.