Barnet campaigners fight to save Great Crested Newts

The Great North Leisure Park development in the London Borough of Barnet is unpopular locally for many reasons but is, according to the Save Our Newts campaign, likely to cause criminal damage to protected habitat. 

The plans, rejected by Barnet Council, but now called in by the London Mayor, involve building 1,485 new homes adjacent to a nature reserve and taking down fencing which acts as a barrier protecting the rare species.  

• Take action – to support local campaigners (including submitting comments to the GLA before the 27 May hearing). All details are on Save Our Newts where you can also sign the petition.

The Glebelands Nature Reserve, behind the proposed development site, contains woodland, wetland and many streams and small pools which are extremely important for the biodiversity present. It is an environmentally sensitive area and in a place like London, where the dense, urban environment makes it difficult to sustain populations of threatened species, it needs protection.  

Plans to remove protective fencing around the nature reserve and increase the number of paths will create huge pressure on the protected species of bats, Great Crested Newts and the rare species of plants which have been found at this site in London in recent years. 

The building process will impact wildlife with noise and air pollution immediately. The wider proposals will fragment habitats and remove important wildlife corridors and have an impact for years to come.  

Had the developers prioritised affordable housing, recognised the importance of the community facilities currently on the site, and recognised the need for protection for the nature reserve, local residents may have been more supportive.  

But only 23% of the new flats will be affordable. The developer Arada has estimated some flats will cost over a £1 million based on its own comparable schemes.  

Save Our Newts 

The largest threat caused to nature by the development project is the impact on the Great Crested Newts population, which are a species highly protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). The Glebelands Local Nature Reserve is home to the largest colony of Great Crested Newts in London.  

The plans threaten to destroy the habitats of many endangered species and eventually wipe out the entire colony of newts.  

The developer’s mitigation report acknowledges the development would have a “significant adverse effect” on the nature reserve and its population of Great Crested Newts but offers no meaningful solutions or even a newt survey, which is required by Natural England.  

Local campaigners say that, at a time where mitigation measures are rarely followed through, this project will set as an example to other development projects in the future and will show them what they can effectively get away with in terms of harming protected species and irreplaceable sites like the Glebelands Nature Reserve. 

The local group Save our Newts is therefore asking the London Deputy Mayor for Planning, Jules Pipe, to refuse planning permission on the application for the Great North Leisure Park development. 

We, and they, ask – what is the point in having a planning system if it can’t protect anything?   

The current government may not care about protecting bats and newts. But we do. 

If you want to help you are still able to make comments on the application page.