Archived press release

Action Needed As Moors Reprieved

15 December 1997

The Peatlands Campaign Consortium today welcomed the decision of the Government's nature agency for England, English Nature not go ahead with its controversial plan to strip legal protection from parts of Thorne and Hatfield Moors [1] and called for urgent changes to wildlife law. The Consortium pledged support for English Nature if the peat industry threatened any legal action as a result of the decision and called for the Government to join with plans to save the Moors once and for all.

English Nature's decision, announced today [Tuesday 2 December] follows intense campaigning from the Peatlands Campaign Consortium [2]. But even though much of the sites retain their Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status, the UK's finest peatland areas remain weakly protected by the law. Furthermore the consortium believes the Government must act to save the Moors by ensuring the permissions to extract peat are revoked.

A spokesperson for the Peatlands Campaign Consortium said:

“We're delighted that English Nature has done the right thing by Thorne and Hatfield Moors. Now we need a full and positive solution to saving these sites and others like them from peat extraction. That means Government action to save them before they are completely stripped of peat.”

The Peatlands Campaign Consortium wants the UK Government to fulfill its international commitments to giving peatlands a future. This means revoking ancient peat extraction permissions on important wildlife sites and changing the law [3], decisions which would prove popular with local communities.

Urgent action is needed on Thorne and Hatfield to revoke the peat extraction permissions(granted in the 1950s) as part of a positive program to save the Moors [4]. By the time new laws are introduced (at the earliest this would be 1999), the sites could have nearly all their peat stripped.

ENDS

NOTES TO EDITORS:

[1] English Nature proposed withdrawing legal protection through SSSI status from hundreds of hectares of Thorne and Hatfield Moors in July 1997, despite the fact that they are the largest lowland raised peatbogs in Britain, home to over 3,000 species of insects and internationally important for their populations of breeding birds such as the Nightjar.

The proposal was based on English Nature's view that the wildlife interest of the areas had been eliminated by peat extraction. Scientific evidence including three reports commissioned by the PCC demonstrated that English Nature's view was faulted as the areas retain wildlife and archaeological interest and contribute to the viability of the rest of the sites. The Environment Agency, local MPs Caroline Flint and Kevin Hughes and Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council also objected to the proposal. In a meeting with conservationists, local MPs and English Nature in October, Environment Minister Michael Meacher asked English Nature to reconsider its evidence.

The final decision was taken by the Council of English Nature at a meeting on Tuesday 2 December.

[2] The Peatlands Campaign Consortium consists of the UK's major environment; wildlife;geological and archaeological conservation groups: BANC; Butterfly Conservation; British Dragonfly Society; Council for British Archaeology; Friends of the Earth; Geologists Association; Geological Society; Greenland-White fronted Goose Study Group; Irish Peatland Conservation Council; Plantlife; RSPB; WWF-UK; The Wildlife Trusts; Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust.

[3] Many damaging peat extraction permissions were granted in the 1950s and 1960s.They have never been subject to environmental assessment, were granted before modern developments such as industrial-scale milling were envisaged and companies involved long ago recouped their investment.

The Government is presently reviewing the protection and management of SSSIs following its manifesto commitment to improve protection for wildlife. 22 wildlife organisations launched the Wildlife Charter in Monday 17 November detailing the changes that must be made to the law if the Government is to meet this commitment. Environment Minister Michael Meacher has stated that he would like to see new legislation in the next Queen's Speech (Autumn 1998), however, it remains unclear what form that legislation will take and whether it will be introduced at all.

[4] No independent assessment has been conducted of the commercial value of the peat on Thorne and Hatfield Moors, consequently the cost of revocation is unknown although it may amount to millions of pounds.

There are powers under planning legislation (Section 116 of the 1990 Planning Act) which allow the revocation of permissions without compensation. The PCC would like to see this matter addressed as a matter of urgency by the Government.

In August of this year 400 local people attended a public meeting over Thorne and Hatfield Moors and took a unanimous 'vote of no confidence in English Nature on this issue'.

Doncaster Council has expressed its: “grave concern at its inability to protect SSSIs
which are subject to old planning permissions, in particular the Humberhead
Levels sites of international importance.”

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