Blackstone boss Stephen Schwarzman runs into difficulties during the £80 million refurbishment of his Wiltshire estate

A billionaire private equity tycoon may have encountered one of his most formidable opponents yet: the great crested newt.

Stephen Schwarzman, the head of Blackstone and one of the most powerful men on Wall Street, has complained to Finance Minister Rachel Reeves about the problems he is having at his country estate in Wiltshire.

Mr Schwarzman bought Conholt Park, a 17th-century property, in 2022 and has planning permission for development which includes a three-storey wing, renovation of the stables and a new lake.

However, as part of this procedure, Mr Schwarzman's contractors must follow a habitat strategy developed by ecologists and carry out daily searches for great crested newts, even though a previous survey had shown that none were present at the site.

The private equity tycoon has briefed Ms Reeves on the various planning issues he needs to overcome to comply with his planning permission. Financial Times reports.

Mrs Reeves was due to meet him in New York on Tuesday evening and explain the difficulties of building in the UK.

The Chancellor has made streamlining the planning process one of her many goals to “fix the fundamentals” of the UK economy and boost future economic growth.

Also part of the conversation was a new data centre that Blackstone plans to build in Blyth, Northumberland – a project that Ms Reeves wants to accelerate.

However, Ms Reeves can do little about Mr Schwarzman's current newt problem, which requires him to make a series of concessions under a plan submitted to Wiltshire Council in May.

This includes having an ecologist on site during construction and having workers search the construction site for great crested newts.

In addition, the measures to protect the newts should continue for “at least 30 years after completion of construction work”. Blackstone was asked for a statement.

Great crested newts, which are black with spotted flanks and an orange belly, are protected under British and European species protection law.

Their numbers are declining and the greatest threat is the loss of their habitat.

In 2023, former Prime Minister Boris Johnson also had problems with the great crested newt.

The former MP had previously promised he would do “whatever it takes” to protect the newt population, including building “newt motels” if necessary, to gain approval for the proposed 11m by 4m swimming pool.

He finally received permission to build an outdoor swimming pool at his heritage-listed Brightwell Manor, where he lives with his wife Carrie and their children.