Yorkshire Wildlife Trust are partnering with Natural England to create and restore ponds in selected parts of North and West Yorkshire for the conservation of Great Crested Newts. The ponds are being created to compensate for the environmental impacts of development, will help to strengthen or expand existing Great Crested Newt populations and create new habitat for other wetland wildlife.  It is expected that newts and other wildlife will colonise the ponds naturally.

The ponds will be fully funded and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust will carry out all the project management and works required (including obtaining planning permission) – all you need to do is periodic maintenance and allow occasional site visits.

All potential pond sites must lie amongst rough habitat and be within our target areas, so a desk-study and site visit will be provided by us to confirm suitability.  More information can be found below – please read this if you’re interested in enquiring.

How to express an interest

Please email our team at info@ywt.org.uk with the following information:

• Your name, contact details and the address of your site.
   
• A 10 figure grid reference (or What3Words) locating each of the proposed or existing ponds you are interested in getting funded (this is required to check initial eligibility).
   
• Title your email ‘GCN pond funding’.
   
• Please note we are currently inviting expressions of interest from the following local authority areas:  Leeds, Wakefield, Yorkshire Dales National Park, North York Moors National Park, City of York and North Yorkshire Council (Craven, Richmondshire, Harrogate, Selby, Ryedale, Hambleton, Scarborough).

Suitable enquiries will be followed up by a relatively simple form and a site visit to discuss further and answer any questions.

Please note that there is a finite amount of funding available and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis to the most appropriate projects. We are currently working to the following timescales:

Expressions of interest
There is no deadline and this is an ongoing programme. Applications may be submitted at any time throughout the year (please contact using the details above). On receipt of your enquiry you will be advised of the approximate timescales in which it will be processed.

More details

Preference will be given to sites where between two and six ponds can be created / restored. We are asking for landowners to consider some of the following if they think their site is suitable and would like to get involved in the scheme:

• The minimum, but optimum, size of each pond is a surface area between 150m2 and 170m2.
   
• Generally, the maximum depth will be 1m.
   
• It should be within 500m of another existing pond and located as close as possible to existing, verifiable, GCN records.
   
• Ground conditions need to be such that the pond will hold water a minimum of one summer in every three (please note that ponds requiring liners are not normally funded).
   
• The location should be within 50m of suitable terrestrial habitat (taller grasses, scrub, woodland or hedgerows).
   
• The south side of the pond should not be allowed to be excessively shaded by trees or other vegetation.
   
• If in a heavily grazed landscape or where disturbance could occur any ponds would need to be fenced (this will likely require a landowner contribution) by a minimum 3m buffer zone.
   
• The pond must be in an area not likely to be polluted by runoff.
   
• Chosen locality should not be liable to flood or be at risk of suffering ingress by fish or excessive use by wildfowl.
   
• There must be sufficient area to spread any excavated spoil on site outside of the Environment Agency’s Flood Zone 3 (YWT will check this on your behalf).
   
• Any area chosen must not be contaminated by invasive non-native species (e.g. Himalayan Balsam or Crassula helmsii).
   
• Any site must ordinarily sit within one of our Strategic Opportunity Areas (SOAs) – NOTE that YWT will check this on your behalf on receipt of the location data requested below.
   
• Restorations ONLY – all ponds put forward must be in late successional stages (choked with vegetation), devoid of water or covered in a thick layer of anaerobic sediment.