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Council fiddles over destruction of borough's best natural asset
22 June 1998
For more information on the best UK wildlife sites, visit FOE's Wildplaces! Website.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] 'The Best of Both Worlds' proposal published on 27 April 1998 by Friends of Rainham Marsh (FORM) with the support of 13 other community and environment groups shows how the 16 million currently earmarked to destroy Rainham Marsh could be used to gain botha business park on derelict land next to Rainham Marsh and to establish a Rainham Gateway Park as a 'natural flagship' development with a top class visitor centre on the Marsh itself.
[2] On Wednesday 17th June, Havering Council's Strategic Policy Committee approved plans to replace the petrol station, hotel, shops and drive through restaurant elements of the planning application with warehousing and manufacturing.
English Partnerships, the Government's own regeneration agency, supported by Havering Council have submitted a planning application (No.P0050.97 Development at Rainham Marsh) to permanently destroy 230 acres of Rainham Marsh Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
Rainham Marsh is London's largest and best wildlife and wetland site. It is so important as a wildlife site that it has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)since 1986. The marsh is home to significant populations of birds, mammals and plant life,including protected species such as the Water Vole. The SSSI consists mainly of Grazing Marsh which itself is a declining habitat (3/4rs of the grazing marsh in the London area has been destroyed in the last 60 years).
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Jul 2008
