Great Crested Newt Survey Report - Dinah's Hollow

1.1 Purpose of this report

This report details the results of Great Crested Newt (Triturus cristatus) (hereafter GCN) surveys undertaken in April and May 2023 as commissioned by Dorset Council, Highways. The results will assist in informing any necessary mitigation.

1.2 Background

Repairs to nearby unstable road embankments have been proposed. The work zone is within approximately 70 metres from the pond which has been assessed for its potential as a suitable breeding habitat for GCN.

1.3 Site description

The proposed works are located south of Shaftesbury at Dinah’s Hollow, Melbury Abbas. One pond was identified within 250 metres of the work zone was surveyed and is located in the garden of Parham’s Farm. The pond is located at grid reference ST 882204. (Please refer to appendix 2, site plan).
The pond is situated in a garden with managed lawn to the north, and a woodland of shrubs and trees to the south.

It is largely open on the north side but surrounded primarily by willow trees to the west, east and south.

There is very little emergent vegetation but rushes and sedges are present around the margins.

The pond is largely shaded, has no aquatic vegetation and has an accumulation of leaf litter on the bottom.

There were lumps of what appeared to be organic matter floating on the surface of the pond.

Two Canada Geese were nesting on an island on the pond.

A stream runs through the pond, running in at the eastern end and out at the western end (Please refer to appendix 1, Photographs.

The pond and work site lie within an amber zone in Dorset for the purposes of GCN district licensing. Please click on the link for details.
 

2.1 Great Crested Newt

The GCN is listed in Schedule 5 of The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (as amended). The Act transposes into the UK law, the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (commonly known as the ‘Bern Convention’). GCN is listed on Schedule 5 of the Act in respect of Section 9, which makes it an offence to:

• intentionally or recklessly kill, injure, or take (handle) a GCN
• intentionally or recklessly damage, destroy or obstruct access to any structure or place that a GCN uses for shelter or protection
• intentionally or recklessly disturb a GCN while it is occupying a structure or place that it uses for shelter or protection

GCN receives further protection under Regulation 41 of the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2010 9as amended), which makes provision for the purpose of implementing European Union Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora 1992. GCN is listed on Annex IV of the Directive, which means that member states are required to put in place a system of strict protection as outlined in Article 12 and this is done through inclusion on Schedule 2 of the Regulations, which makes it an offense to:

• deliberately capture, injure or kill any GCN
• deliberately disturb a GCN, in particular any disturbance which is likely:
  a  to impair their ability to survive, to breed or reproduce, or to rear or nurture their young, or to hibernate or migrate
  b to affect significantly the local distribution or abundance of GCN; or
• damage or destroy a breeding site or resting place of a GCN

The survey work was carried out under licence/registration number – 2022-30710-CLS- CLS. This permits the survey work and any possible disturbance caused by the survey.

3.1 Review of secondary data

The pond and work site lie within an amber zone for GCN district licensing.
There is anecdotal evidence from the landowner that smooth or palmate newts were found within the last year approximately 70m from the pond.

3.2 Defining survey scope

In line with Chartered Institute of Ecological and Environmental Management (CIEEM) and Natural England guidance, surveys were focused on those areas in which works associated with the proposed development could contribute to significant adverse effects on GCN populations, or could result in contravention of the legislation protecting GCNs.

3.3 Agreement of suitable survey methods

The water body lies approximately 70m from the proposed work zone and was therefore selected to be surveyed. Methods to be employed were egg search and torch survey. In addition eDNA sampling was undertaken as a supplementary survey method. These were all carried out in line with Natural England guidelines.

The pond was subjected to a habitat suitability index (HSI) test which assesses the suitability of the pond for great crested newts.

3.4 Limitations

There were no survey constraints.

4.1 Torch survey

Torching involves searching for great crested newts at night by walking the perimeter of the water body whilst shining a powerful torch into the water. This method is only undertaken when the night-time air temperature exceeds 5 degrees centigrade.

4.2 Egg search

An egg search involves a visual search for folded vegetation either on emergent plants, aquatic plants or on leaf litter in the pond.

4.3 Habitat Suitability Index (HSI)

The HSI for the great crested newt was developed as a scoring system to evaluate habitat quality and quantity. As HSI is a numerical index between 0 and 1. Ponds with values below 0.5 are categorised as poor; between 0.5 and 0.59 as below average; 0.6 to 0.69 as average; 0.7 to 0.79 as good and over 0.8 as excellent.

Features examined and ranked include:

• shading
• % of macrophyte (aquatic plant) cover.
• presence of fish or wildfowl.
• pond size
• quality of terrestrial habitat
• national location
• water quality (abundance and diversity of invertebrates and submerged plants)
• other ponds within 1km

4.4  eDNA Testing

If GCN use a pond, their DNA can be detected in water samples. eDna testing currently requires one visit in the daytime between 15th April and 30th June. Samples are gathered following the guidelines supplied by the testing company. Samples are then refrigerated until transfer to the laboratory.
This  survey method is accepted by NE. In the government website https://www.gov.uk/guidance/great-crested-newts-advice-for-making-planning- decisions it states that, ‘survey work can include: presence or absence surveys, which can include eDNA sampling’.

Torch surveys, egg search, eDNA testing and Habitat Suitabiity Index results

Site: Pond Dinah's Hollow, Shaftesbury, Dorset

Date and time	Species	Method	Weather and temperature	Notes
17 April 2023	No amphibian or egg sightings	Torch	20% cloud Air - 12 degrees C Water - 13 degrees C	Turbidity - 2 out of 10 (10 being very turbid) 12 sticklebacks seen
25 April 2023	No amphibian or egg sightings	Torch	10% cloud Air - 10 degrees C Water - 13 degrees C	Turbidity - 2 8 sticklebacks seen
17 April 2023	N/A	HSI	N/A	0.50 = below average. Borderline poor GCN habitat
9 May 2023	No amphibian  sightings	eDNA samples taken	N/A	Negative

Two torch surveys 2 egg searches were undertaken on 17 April and 25 April 2023.

No GCN or GCN eggs were found during the surveys.

eDNA samples were taken on 9-5-23. The samples were analysed on 18-5-23 and the results were negative.

Analysis:

• the pond does not appear to support a population of Great Crested Newts
• HSI rating is categorised as below average and is borderline poor. This low reading is primarily due to; the presence of and stocking of predatory fish; the presence of wildfowl and the poor water quality
• the negative eDNA test results help to reaffirm the negative torch and egg search survey results for the pond
• as noted in 5.8.1 of the NE GCN Mitigation Guidelines manual 2001, ‘it is virtually impossible to demonstrate absence’. However, the population size here can be classed as between zero and ‘small’
• a ‘small’ population size class refers to maximum counts of up to 10 (please refer to 5.8.3.1 of the NE GCN Mitigation Guidelines), whereas no evidence of GCN was found during the recent surveys at the Dinah’s Hollow pond
• the proposed development is unlikely have any significant effect on any local GCN population and therefore not have a negative impact on the favourable status of this species within this locality
• it is possible that GCN may travel to the working area from outside, although the numbers are likely to be low as most will be found within 250 metres of a breeding pond

Mitigation:

• although the pond does not appear to support a population of GCN, the terrestrial habitat around the pond and at the work site are suitable for newts
• due to this and the fact that the work site lies within an amber zone for GCN licencing, any work undertaken on suitable terrestrial habitat for GCN should be overseen by a suitably qualified ecologist
• suitable terrestrial habitat for GCN has structure, so may include small mammal holes, rotten stumps, stone walls, and piles of loose rock or logs. Good terrestrial habitat offers cover and foraging opportunities and may include rough grassland, hedges, scrub and woodland. Creation of these features in advance of the main scheme is recommended
• a method statement must be produced to cover all GCN mitigation

Appendix 1 – Photographs of Surveyed Pond

Photo 1 survey pond

 

Photo 2 Stream inlet to pond

 

Appendix 2 – Figure 1. Site Survey Location

Figure 1 Proximity of surveyed pond and the approximate proposal working zone

 

Interim Ecological Assessment

This forms part of the wider report Interim Ecological Assessment, Dinah's Hollow.