Post by Holton Heath on Dec 30, 2008 14:41:00 GMT
www.independent.co.uk/environment/hardys-heath-threatened-by-development-629868.html
Hardy's heath threatened by development
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Monday, 1 October 2001
The wildlife-rich heathlands of Dorset, celebrated by Thomas Hardy and now the subject of Britain's biggest habitat restoration campaign, are facing a major threat from a proposed large-scale housing development.
The wildlife-rich heathlands of Dorset, celebrated by Thomas Hardy and now the subject of Britain's biggest habitat restoration campaign, are facing a major threat from a proposed large-scale housing development.
The plan to build 1,350 homes at Holton Heath near Wareham is regarded as potentially disastrous by leading conservationists. But the local council says it is pushing the plan forward to meet its government-allocated housing target.
The Government's own wildlife adviser, English Nature, is joining with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Dorset Wildlife Trust tooppose the plan.
Lowland heath is home to rare birds such as the nightjar, the Dartford warbler and the woodlark, scarce reptiles such as the sand lizard and the smooth snake, and uncommon insects such as the silver-studded blue butterfly.
It caught the imagination of Thomas Hardy, who called it Egdon Heath and made it a brooding presence in novels such as The Return of The Native. Hardy's Egdon Heath Project, in which 13 local councils and conservation bodies are aiming to enhance and recreate the 17,000 remaining acres (6,880 hectares) of the writer's landscape over the next five years at a cost of nearly £4m, is the biggest habitat restoration project in Britain.
But Purbeck District Council is backing the plan by two private developers to put 1,350 homes, housing about 3,000 people, on land immediately adjoining Holton Heath National Nature Reserve.
The problem, said Richard Archer of the RSPB, is not destruction of the heath, but urbanisation of it. "Holton Heath is in a rural area and not subject to enormous pressures," he said. "The problem is what happens when you put 3,000 people right next to a habitat as sensitive as this one."
The proposals will go to a public inquiry in November although the plans have already been "called in" by the Secretary of State for Local Government, Stephen Byers, who will make the final decision.
Hardy's heath threatened by development
By Michael McCarthy, Environment Editor
Monday, 1 October 2001
The wildlife-rich heathlands of Dorset, celebrated by Thomas Hardy and now the subject of Britain's biggest habitat restoration campaign, are facing a major threat from a proposed large-scale housing development.
The wildlife-rich heathlands of Dorset, celebrated by Thomas Hardy and now the subject of Britain's biggest habitat restoration campaign, are facing a major threat from a proposed large-scale housing development.
The plan to build 1,350 homes at Holton Heath near Wareham is regarded as potentially disastrous by leading conservationists. But the local council says it is pushing the plan forward to meet its government-allocated housing target.
The Government's own wildlife adviser, English Nature, is joining with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the Dorset Wildlife Trust tooppose the plan.
Lowland heath is home to rare birds such as the nightjar, the Dartford warbler and the woodlark, scarce reptiles such as the sand lizard and the smooth snake, and uncommon insects such as the silver-studded blue butterfly.
It caught the imagination of Thomas Hardy, who called it Egdon Heath and made it a brooding presence in novels such as The Return of The Native. Hardy's Egdon Heath Project, in which 13 local councils and conservation bodies are aiming to enhance and recreate the 17,000 remaining acres (6,880 hectares) of the writer's landscape over the next five years at a cost of nearly £4m, is the biggest habitat restoration project in Britain.
But Purbeck District Council is backing the plan by two private developers to put 1,350 homes, housing about 3,000 people, on land immediately adjoining Holton Heath National Nature Reserve.
The problem, said Richard Archer of the RSPB, is not destruction of the heath, but urbanisation of it. "Holton Heath is in a rural area and not subject to enormous pressures," he said. "The problem is what happens when you put 3,000 people right next to a habitat as sensitive as this one."
The proposals will go to a public inquiry in November although the plans have already been "called in" by the Secretary of State for Local Government, Stephen Byers, who will make the final decision.