Big Walberswick Wildlife Watch

Please join the Big Walberswick Wildlife Watch and help us record the wildlife on Walberswick’s proposed landfall sites.

Walberswick is surrounded by a rich mosaic of natural habitats due to a mix of geography, geology, and cultural history, making it internationally important for wildlife. This is recognised by the Minsmere to Walberswick Marshes and Heaths suite of protected wildlife sites protected under UK & International law, and comprises shingle, dune, marsh, intertidal and heathland habitats. These protected sites are shown on the map below.

To date, NGV (National Grid Ventures) have provided scant details of the landfall and terrestrial cable routing works, but to reach either of the proposed landfall alternatives at G1 or G2, will involve crossing or tunnelling under fragile coastal and marshland habitat. Inland, there is no alternative for the cabling route to cross the Internationally protected heathland and woodland habitats - the most parsimonious route is marked as a pink line on the map. In short, it seems highly unlikely that the work could be undertaken without have a significant effect on the integrity of the Internationally designated sites. 

We need to garner the appropriate ecological information to robustly challenge NGV in their assessment of effects under both the Habitats and Environmental Impact Assessment Regulations. We will work closely with the Walberswick Common Lands Charity and other key stakeholders. We will also contract consultant ecologists to undertake key surveys. 

If you want to get involved download the iRecord App and contact Matthew Denny (07973 462948) for further instructions.