great crested newts

[AmIAWeed]

Has anyone had any experience of great crested newts?
We've moved into a house a year ago and have a leaking pond, it was really neglected when we moved in and we planned on filling it in as the location is impractical, we left it too late and had masses of frogs and frog spawn.
It's been a nightmare, It is ground level there's a brick outter to it which are all loose and keep falling in, probably what caused the leak and the dog has fallen in so often I am really quite fed up of it and just want it gone.
I was all set to fill it in this weekend before the frogs start mating again when my neighbours announced we have great crested newts, apparently they have them to and we can't fill the pond in. From everything I have read online IF we need to move them we've missed the boat as it needs doing between November to January and we need an expert in to avoid fines etc.
Has anyone had someone do a survey? Any idea of the costs involved?

If you had loads of frogspawn I'm surprised you have newts as it's one of their favourite foods (I'd love frogs but the newts see that they don't stand a chance). Also does the pond have fish or ducks in? They eat the newt eggs so it at least wouldn't be a breeding site... I would play it by the book, google a local ecologist and ask if they mind having an informal chat over the phone to discuss what would be involved, costs etc.

Great crested newts and frogs can breed in the same pond. We have both. Definitely contact an ecologist for advice as the pond might be a known breeding pond. The newt larvae can over winter in the pond as well.

My husband is an ecologist and knows lots about GCN's. I'll show him your post and get back to you.

Thanks all

I'm not sure how much help this is but the pond itself isn't huge. I'd say maybe 2 metres long and 1 metre wide, lots of the width is taken up by a slope for things to get in and out. It isn't particularly deep, most is less than a foot but then there is a deep bit in the middle which is just under a metre.

I contacted Natural England who put me onto Amphibian and Reptile Conservation, I had a good chat with them but really I have 2 options. Send photos of any newts I find for conformation of what they are, which a cynical person would say I would omit pictures of great crested newts and it doesn't prove there aren't any...the other is getting a commercial ecologist in which could cost a couple of hundred pounds.
They did suggest contacting a local amphibian group to see if any would be willing to look but no response from them.

I'm a bit torn because whilst he said there hasn't been a case of prosecution for an individuals garden pond I do feel a sense of duty to do it right, but at the same time I have a sneaky suspicion the neighbour have said this ONLY to slow down a development near by.
I could wait until the nearby development disproves Great crested newts but then i'm stuck with a leaking pond in a difficult location for another year because if I don't fill it in the next week or two then I risk upsetting the animals that come back to breed...I guess i'll have to top it up with water twice a week again this summer and built a cage over to stop the dog going in.
Any advice your husband can offer Givemestrengthorgin would be fantastic though

amiaweed my dh says it's a bit of a difficult one as there are regulations but he's only experienced them in relation to big developments but harder to implement when its such a one off, small area. Also, if the pond is leaking water, then you have no obligation to maintain it and keep filling it up. He said no gcn eggs would be laid until end of March at the earliest so you could just leave it to drain naturally and fill it in, but not straight away. He said it would be worth finding out if you have a local wildlife trust that you could contact for more specific advice.
Sorry it's no more helpful. He basically said it's not clear cut.