Representation by Dr Judith Clark
- Date submitted
- 18 March 2021
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
Swanscombe Peninsula is a totally unsuitable location for a theme park. This development will cause significant and permanent damage to nationally and internationally important wildlife and habitats. Biodiversity is in drastic decline, in terms of both species distributions and their abundance. In the built up counties of Kent and Sussex there is already too little space for wild life and it is imperative that what remains should not be lost to development. Natural England has recognised the importance of Swanscombe Peninsula by expanding the boundary of the existing SSSI. This means that the ecological and environmental impacts of the London Resort development need to be reassessed with this enlarged SSSI as a new baseline. The Swanscombe Peninsula is home to an incredibly diverse range of species, including some which are very rare. My particular interest is botany and 13 nationally scarce plant species are found within its boundaries. These include 6 species on the Vascular Plant red list for England: man orchid (endangered); yellow vetchling, hairy vetchling, slender hare's-ear and divided sedge (all vulnerable) and Borrer's saltmarsh-grass (near threatened). The area is also home to rare and endangered species of insects and birds, and locally important populations of retiles, bats, water voles and otters. But it is not just rare species that need to be conserved. Over the 30 years that I have been botanising in Sussex and Kent more and more once common plant species are becoming more and more difficult to find in the countryside. We need to protect common species of plants and animals too, for the pleasure and enjoyment of future generations. Our precious wildlife is far more valuable than any theme park, and we have a moral duty to protect other species for their own sake, as well as for ours.