Representation by Jill Bruce
- Date submitted
- 13 February 2023
- Submitted by
- Members of the public/businesses
I have serious concerns about the impact of the proposed Thames crossing on wildlife and habitats in Essex, including: Biodiversity loss, such as water voles, reptiles and rare insects. Damage to and fragmentation of habitats, including ancient woodland and local wildlife sites. Increased noise and lighting disturb communication, breeding, feeding and movement in species such as bats, birds and insects. Reduced remoteness and wildness of the landscape and its tranquillity. Generating more traffic and increasing CO2 emissions, which directly conflicts with the government's target to achieve net zero by 2050. Associated development and future developments will put more pressure on wildlife and wild spaces. It is crucially important that we now minimise all CO2 emissions as we have already reached 1.2C warming, and going over 1.5C warming makes tipping points such as the ice sheet sliding off Greenland raising global sea levels by 7 metres a very real possibility. I believe that would make this crossing irrelevant