Representation by Margaret Nelmes
- Date submitted
- 13 March 2021
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
As a nature conservationist, working for several voluntary wildlife organisations, I OBJECT to this planning application to build the London Resort on the Swanscombe peninsula for the following reasons: The peninsula is a site of great importance to wildlife, due to its exceptional diversity of habitats and warm, dry micro-climate. Its habitats consist of chalk grassland, ditches, floodplain grazing marsh, deciduous woodland, wetland and saltmarsh. These habitats attract a great diversity of wildlife, which is why National England has recommended that this peninsula be designated a Site of Special Scientific Importance to nature (SSSI). This wildlife includes: * over 250 invertebrate species that are endangered or critically endangered in the UK, including species of bees, wasps, spiders and beetles. * Many species of breeding birds, 15 Red-listed and 12 of Principal Importance, including marsh harrier, bearded tit, nightingale and black redstart. * 13 nationally scarce vascular plant species, including 5 that are Red-listed. * locally important populations of reptiles, bats, watervoles and otters. Sites like this are becoming increasingly rare in the Thames Estuary, over half of them lost, damaged or under threat, due to development, since 2007. There is a unique opportunity here to designate the Swanscombe peninsula as an SSSI and turn it into a nature reserve, where children from nearby urban schools could come to learn about nature and conservation, and where people of all ages could come to unwind. The pandemic has demonstrated how important it is for people's mental health to be in nature, especially for those who live in urban and industrial areas. The people of North-east Kent are so fortunate to have such an extraordinarily rich diversity of wildlife on their doorstep. You can build a theme park anywhere, but you cannot recreate this unique collection of habitats with their amazing ecosystem anywhere else.