Great Crested Newt Survey Report Backbridge Farm Persimmon July 2017 23 Short Lane Long Ashton Bristol BS41 9EH www.iesconsult.co.uk 0117 9113834 07977 437567 [email protected] Integrated Ecological Solutions Ltd is a Registered Company in England and Wales No. 06941706 IES/2016/044 Backbridge Farm GCN Report Quality Assurance Job Number: IES/2016/044 Project Name: Backbridge Farm GCN Report Revision Description Originator Checked Authorised Date Number 001 Draft for TT TT June 2016 Comment 002 Final – TT TT July 2017 updated with new layout - 2 - IES/2016/044 Backbridge Farm GCN Report Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 1 INTRODUCTION 5 2 METHODOLOGY 6 3 RESULTS 8 4 EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 13 5 CONCLUSIONS 16 6 REFERENCES 17 FIGURE 1: SITE LOCATION 18 FIGURE 2: SURVEY AREA 20 FIGURE 3: PONDS WHERE PRESENCE/ABSENCE SURVEYS WERE CARRIED OUT 22 FIGURE 4: EDNA SURVEY LOCATIONS 24 FIGURE 5: SURVEY RESULTS 26 FIGURE 6: POPULATION SIZE CLASSES 28 APPENDIX A: NOTES AND LIMITATIONS 30 APPENDIX B: ADAS EDNA METHODOLOGY 31 - 3 - IES/2016/044 Backbridge Farm GCN Report Executive Summary IES Consulting were instructed by Persimmon Homes to undertake a great crested newt survey at land adjacent to Backbridge Farm, Malmesbury, Wiltshire. The aim of this study was to determine the use of the site, and ponds within 5oom of the site, by great crested newts. The site is heavily grazed grassland and no ponds are present within the site boundary, however it provides terrestrial habitat for great crested newts. It is proposed to build 227 residential dwellings on the site. In 2013, Thompson Ecology carried out a great crested newt survey on land within 500m of the proposed Dyson Headquarters Expansion to the north of the Backbridge Farm site. The Dyson development is immediately adjacent to the Backbridge Farm proposed development site, and the habitat present is contiguous with the habitat on the Backbridge Farm site. This survey identified 14 ponds with the potential to support great crested newts, nine of which were subsequently shown to support great crested newts. Figure 2 shows the ponds previously surveyed and the 500m buffer zone from the Backbridge Farm site. Great crested newts (Triturus cristatus) are protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and are listed under Schedule 2 of the Habitats Regulations 2010. Great crested newts breed in ponds and associated wetlands features and hibernate in surrounding suitable terrestrial habitat such as hedgerows, rubble piles, log piles and wooded areas. Breeding ponds, routes to and from hibernating areas, terrestrial foraging areas and the hibernating areas are protected (as places of shelter) and must be identified through survey work. In order to undertake work which will affect habitats known to support great crested newts, a derogation licence must be obtained from Natural England. This allows otherwise unlawful work to proceed legally. There are ten waterbodies within 500m of the site boundary which support great crested newts, with a further waterbody (SW12) just outside the 500m buffer zone. Pond SW10 was dry throughout the survey period, and whilst this remains true can be discounted from any future survey effort. Ponds SW1, SW9, SW13, SW14, N1 and N3 do not support great crested newts. The remaining ponds have all been shown to support small or medium populations of great crested newts, and the ponds within a 500m survey area of the site as a whole support a medium population of great crested newts. Recommendations have been made for site enhancement in order to maintain and increase the population on the site. Overall it is felt that the current level of survey effort has identified the location of great crested newts on the site, and sufficient information on presence/absence and population size has been provided. Principles for gaining a European Protected Species Licence have been provided. - 4 - IES/2016/044 Backbridge Farm GCN Report 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background 1.1.1 IES Consulting were instructed by Persimmon Homes to undertake a great crested newt survey at land adjacent to Backbridge Farm, Malmesbury, Wiltshire, and centered on Grid Reference ST923883. A site location plan can be seen in Figure 1. 1.1.2 The aim of this study was to determine the use of the site, and ponds within 5oom of the site, by great crested newts. The site is heavily grazed grassland and no ponds are present within the site boundary, however it provides terrestrial habitat for great crested newts. 1.2 Development Proposals 1.2.1 It is proposed to build 227 residential dwellings on the site. 1.3 Previous Survey Work 1.3.1 In 2013, Thompson Ecology carried out a great crested newt survey on land within 500m of the proposed Dyson Headquarters Expansion to the north of the Backbridge Farm site. The Dyson development is immediately adjacent to the Backbridge Farm proposed development site, and the habitat present is contiguous with the habitat on the Backbridge Farm site. 1.3.2 This survey identified 14 ponds with the potential to support great crested newts, nine of which were subsequently shown to support great crested newts. Figure 2 shows the ponds previously surveyed and the 500m buffer zone from the Backbridge Farm site. 1.4 Legislative Background 1.4.1 Great crested newts (Triturus cristatus) are protected under Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and are listed under Schedule 2 of the Habitats Regulations 2010. 1.4.2 Great crested newts breed in ponds and associated wetlands features and hibernate in surrounding suitable terrestrial habitat such as hedgerows, rubble piles, log piles and wooded areas. Breeding ponds, routes to and from hibernating areas, terrestrial foraging areas and the hibernating areas are protected (as places of shelter) and must be identified through survey work. 1.4.3 In order to undertake work which will affect habitats known to support great crested newts, a derogation licence must be obtained from Natural England. This allows otherwise unlawful work to proceed legally. - 5 - IES/2016/044 Backbridge Farm GCN Report 2 METHODOLOGY 2.1.1 Notes and limitations are provided in Table 13 and Appendix A. 2.2 eDNA Testing of Ponds 2.2.1 The previous survey work demonstrated that 4 ponds had no evidence of use by great crested newts (SW1, SW9, SW10 – which was dry on all previous survey visits, and SW13). SW12 was shown to support a population of great crested newts but was outwith the 500m survey area from the edge of the development site. SW14 was also shown previously not to support great crested newts, but was not a candidate for eDNA testing due to water levels and suspended sediment. 2.2.2 It was therefore agreed with Jon Taylor (Wiltshire County Council Ecologist) that eDNA testing should be used on these ponds (with the exception of SW14) to verify that their status had not changed with respect to supporting great crested newts. 2.2.3 Water samples were collected from these ponds on 16th May 2016 according to the methodology prescribed by ADAS (Appendix B). These were then couriered to the ADAS laboratory on 18th May. SW10 was again dry at the time of survey. 2.3 Presence/Absence Surveys 2.3.1 Four presence/absence surveys were done on the remaining ponds with the exception of SW14 which did not contain great crested newts in any of the previous surveys, and had too little water and was too turbid with suspended sediment to allow successful eDNA testing. In addition, three new ponds had been completed on the land to the north at the time of the surveys, and these were included in the survey effort. Figures 3 and 4 show the location of each pond and the survey type carried out. 2.3.2 The surveys were carried out in accordance with the Great Crested Newt Conservation Handbook (Froglife 2001) and the Great Crested Newt Mitigation Guidelines (English Nature 2001), which are the current best practice guidance. Surveys were carried out by Tilly Tilbrook MCIEEM (Class Licence # 2016-19371-CLS-CLS) assisted by Vilas Anthwal, Luke Metcalf and Eleanor Hewins, all of whom are experienced ecological surveyors. 2.3.3 A combination of bottle-trapping, torching and netting was used at each pond, and four visits were undertaken at each pond. It was not considered that six visits were required because this was an update of the work undertaken in 2013, and great crested newts were known to still be present in the area following a translocation exercise on the land to the north. Bottle Trapping 2.3.4 Traps were set containing an air bubble and were not left for longer than 17 hours overnight. All were checked and removed before 11am the following day. This complies with the Great Crested Newt Mitigation Guidelines welfare considerations (page 57). A density of approximately one trap per two meters of shoreline was used, however in places accessibility issues meant a reduced trapping effort had to be undertaken. It is not considered that this affected the results since it is known to be very difficult to accurately - 6 - IES/2016/044 Backbridge Farm GCN Report assess population size for this species, and because the results were to verify the work undertaken in 2013. Torching 2.3.5 The entire margin of each pond was walked slowly, and a 1 million candlepower equivalent torch used to shine into the water. Any great crested newts seen were counted and recorded. Netting 2.3.6 A long-handled dip net was used to sample the area around the pond edge, with 15 minutes of netting undertaken per 50m of shoreline.