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QUANGO RELAUNCHES PLAN TO DESTROY WILDLIFE HAVEN

10 Aug 1998

A Government quango today relaunches its plan to destroy a large part of London's largest wetland wildlife haven, Rainham Marsh. The new plan has been greeted by a chorus of horror from Friends of the Earth and local campaigners, who call it “new sheep's clothing hiding the same old wolf”, as it still involves the destruction of 90 hectares of Rainham Marsh Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) [1].

Rainham Marsh SSSI is home to water voles, short-eared owls and rare invertebrates.Regeneration agency English Partnerships, in league with Havering Council, previously planned to transform the SSSI into a collection of warehouses, a drive-through restaurant and a petrol station. Today they have sent the Council a revised plan, which now only involves building warehouses. The plan will use an estimated £16 million in public money and has been opposed by the Government's wildlife agency English Nature.

Matt Phillips, wildlife campaigner of Friends of the Earth said: “The good news about this relaunch is that people will once again have the opportunity to object. The bad news is the damage to this nationally important wildlife haven will still be severe. We don't care if English Partnerships and Havering Council want to build another drab warehouse or a tacky drive-through restaurant. This destructive plan must still be stopped.”

Friends of the Earth has called on Environment Secretary John Prescott to quash English Partnerships' plan.

English Partnerships has applied to Havering Borough Council to develop the area with what is understood to be £16m of public money. However, no private sector developer is involved and the application may be illegal(see below). Friends of the Earth wrote to John Prescott about the issue in January, but has still received no satisfactory reply. Friends of Rainham Marsh have produced a report called The Best of Both Worlds (available on request) which shows the SSSI can be protected and development can be brought to the Borough securing both wildlife and regeneration of genuinely derelict land.

English Partnerships was set up in the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 where it is known as the Urban Regeneration Agency. Its prime duty under Section 159 of the Act is the redevelopmentof vacant, unused, under-used, contaminated, derelict, neglected or unsightly land. In the case of Green field sites (like Rainham which is a SSSI), the agency can initiate development, but only if it has already received the'directions' and 'consent' of the Secretary of State (paragraph (3) subsections (a) and (b)). If the Agency has not received these directions and consent (which is understood to be the case at Rainham), then the whole application may be illegal.