Last chance to have your say on Chat Moss
Article published: Friday, October 21st 2011
Nearly 50 years after permission was first granted to extract peat from Chat Moss, both Salford and Wigan Council refused on environmental grounds to renew William Sinclair Horticulture Ltd’s licence to continue extraction. Sinclair has appealed the decision to both councils, and a Public Inquiry has been launched to decide on the 10,000 year old moss land’s future.
The joint inquiry to deal with both appeals is set to go ahead in March 2012, and the process will allow members of the public to comment on the case. The deadline for responses is Friday 4 November 2011.
Wildlife Trust Campaign Manager David Crawshaw said: “There was a magnificent response from the public who wrote in their hundreds to Wigan and Salford councils to object to the proposals for extending planning permission. That action undoubtedly helped to persuade the planning committees to reject the proposals.
“However, now the battle has moved on to the Public Inquiry which really is the last chance to influence this decision and even if you have written previously to the council we urge you to write again to the inspectorate.
“This is the end of a long process and the decision made at this Inquiry will determine the future of Chat Moss. It’s really vital to make your voice heard if you care about Chat Moss. This is absolutely the last opportunity to influence the outcome of this vitally important national test case.”
Dr Chris Miller, Mosslands Project Manager at the Trust described the area as a “rare and endangered habitat” which “play[s] host to many rare species, provides an amazing natural carbon store and provides natural flood defence.”
Only 1 per cent of UK mosslands remain, and around half of these are threatened by peat extraction. Moss lands are often referred to as ‘our rainforests’ as they store huge amounts of carbon, and are home to a wide variety of plants and wildlife.
Mark Haworth
Instructions for how to have your say can be found here on the Lancashire Wildlife Trust’s website.
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Comments
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If the moss is only 10,000 years old then let the miners take it.
10,000 years isn’t old in real terms, being only twice as old as Stonehenge, a man made artefact.
There must be millions of square miles of land on earth which have remained largely unaltered in composition for the last 10,000 years, making Chat Moss’s peat very unexceptional.
Comment by simon on October 21, 2011 at 10:33 pm -
Thanks for the heads up on this one. I have made an objection. Not sure what Simon’s point is in the context of the info here and on the LWT’s site (plus I knowe the area well myself)but I am sure its a ‘no-brainer’ for the rest of us – just another selfish land-grab at the expense of the rest of us and our descendents.
Comment by Roger on October 24, 2011 at 4:17 pm -
Simon probably works for William Sinclair! Hope this extraction gets stopped, I got the Wildlife Trust magazine a few months back and it had a mention in there. The government need to realise its environmental value. Its not JUST a piece of land is it? Some things aren’t for sale. This is sacred spot for certain species who would possibly become extinct if it wasn’t for this site, so yes Simons comments are strange to say the least.
Comment by Ste Russell on May 8, 2012 at 1:54 pm
The comments are closed.
