For anyone who does not have access to the Daily Telegraph either paper or online, here’s some interesting quotes from an article published earlier this week. Please continue to follow progress of the on-going campaign on social media – links in our previous post. If you want to see more of our posts, keep up to date by registering for our automated feeds – see bottom right of our home page.
As the Theme Park development has been approved to go to the next planning stage, there are hopes that the Distinguished Jumping Spider could save the day. The spider is only found in two places in the country, which means that Swanscombe is even more important to this species.
As many of us already know, it is not just the spider which finds its home at Swanscombe marshes, as the article pointed out.
“There are also 250 other at-risk creatures which make the marshland their home, and critics argue that allowing the habitat to be ripped up is at odds with the Prime Minister’s plans for a ‘Green recovery’ from the pandemic, and his promise to protect 30 per cent of the country for nature.
Other threatened species which call the marshes their home include the nightingale, man orchid, yellow-striped bear spider and the orange-striped water beetle.”
The RSPB is working with Buglife and Kent Wildlife Trust to protect the site and Buglife are leading the way to save the Distinguished Jumping Spider.
Mat Shardow from Buglife was quoted:
“Designating Swanscombe Peninsula and adjacent estuarine habitats in the Thames as an SSSI is the strongest environmental protection available and has been demanded by dozens of expert wildlife bodies and 36 ex-government nature agency senior staff members.
The developers response:
Andy Martin, Director of Communications and Strategy for London Resort Company Holdings said: “We are fully co-operating with Natural England with regards to the discharge of their statutory duty in this regard.
“We have taken a responsible approach to environmental considerations, including ecology and biodiversity, from the outset. We will continue to work with Natural England to identify a way forward which both delivers significant economic growth and job creation and a bio-diversity net gain”.
A final quote from James Seymour, Natural England “The Swanscombe Peninsula is an important wildlife site and we are currently considering whether the land should be notified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Quotes copyright Daily Telegraph.
To read the full article, visit the Telegraph online
If you don’t usually read the telegraph or don’t want to sign up for an online subscription, you can read it (and all the other newspapers) for free through your online library:
http://www.rspbgravesend.org.uk/2020/04/dont-forget-your-library/
Alan