Representation by Christopher Ernest Wheeler
- Date submitted
- 24 March 2021
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
When I lived in Dartford and schooled in Gravesend, Swanscombe peninsula was but a bike ride away and I frequently visited it. My current knowledge is historical as I have not lived in the area for some time. When I first visited the peninsula the PLA had just started dumping the dredging material from the entrance of Tilbury Dock on to the saltmarsh. There were breeding Redshank, Lapwing, Ringed Plover and Little Ringed Plover as well as Oystercatcher. I recall seeing a flock of 30 Curlew Sandpipers there in August 1959 and finding a Marsh Sandpiper there in August 1963 (only the 14th occurrence in Britain). A Glossy Ibis in April 1974 was a very early record of a species which has since become more frequent. The reed beds and bushes were full of birds and other wildlife and even in those days it was a real haven surrounded as it was by industry, chalk quarrying etc. but now it is even more isolated by developments such as Ebbsfleet and transport links and additional development. The importance of its wildlife interest has been clearly demonstrated and this coupled with its unique habitat is surely worth conserving in this increasingly developed landscape of North Kent.