RSPB launches No Airport @ Cliffe Campaign

18-09-2002

The Cliffe site on the Hoo Peninsula in Kent is the UK's fourth most important site for waterfowl. It supports around 160,000 wildfowl and waders including Brent Geese, Oystercatcher, Grey Plovers, Knot, Dunlin and Bar-tailed Godwit, as well as notable winter numbers of Hen Harrier and Short-eared Owl. It also holds over 33,000 breeding and migratory birds including Lapwing, Redshank, Marsh Harrier and Avocet.

Four internationally important wetland sites could be under threat if the Cliffe proposal becomes a reality: Thames Estuary and Marshes Special Protection Area and Ramsar site, Medway Estuary and Marshes Special Protection Area (SPA)/Ramsar site; Benfleet and Southend Marshes SPA/Ramsar site, and the Swale SPA/Ramsar site. The surrounding area is also part of an Important Bird Area (IBA) and includes seven RSPB reserves.

The proposed airport would also destroy most of the RSPB's Nature Reserve at Northward Hill which currently supports the largest breeding heronry in the UK, 45 pairs of Avocet and 18 pairs of Little Egret (15% of the UK breeding population).

The RSPB's South-East Regional Director, Chris Corrigan, said: "The thought of an airport and all the associated infrastructure being slapped on top of one of Europe's premier wildlife sites is, frankly, obscene. You wouldn't build an airport somewhere like Canterbury Cathedral or Stonehenge - it is a nonsense to imagine building here on the North Kent Marshes around Cliffe, which are another great part of our heritage.

On August 30th an estimated three thousand local villagers and bird watchers opposed to the Government's proposals took part in a protest at the Northward Hill RSPB reserve. RSPB Chief Executive Graham Wynne said the RSPB was hosting the rally to bring together the local communities and the RSPB in their fight against the airport.