The future of wildlife in the South East is under serious threat says Dr Tony Whitbread, Chief Executive of the Sussex Wildlife Trust (SWT) in response to a report by independent Inspectors examining the Government’s South East Plan (SE Plan) over the next 20 years.

Dr Whitbread is horrified that the Inspectors have taken little account of the environmental impact of proposed development throughout the region with potentially disastrous effects for the hundreds of species that call Sussex their home.

Whilst the report acknowledges the need to protect and enhance the region’s biodiversity, it then goes on to propose even more houses.
The Inspectors recommend that house building numbers for the South East should go up from 29,000 per year to 32,000 – an additional 62,000 in the South East on top of the 580,000 already planned. That is a total amount of 640,160 houses before 2026 – roughly the equivalent of 14 towns the size of Worthing.

“All in all the report from the panel of Inspectors is disappointing but not surprising.” says Dr Tony Whitbread, “People are doing their best but the engine that drives environmental damage grinds on.”

SWT, like other Wildlife Trusts in the region, has been campaigning hard for the draft SE plan to incorporate practical measures to safeguard our existing wildlife and also to mitigate against the inevitable impact of the planned new houses, roads and other infrastructure.

“This further increase in housing is potentially disastrous for our wildlife,” says Dr Tony Whitbread, “We recognise that growth needs to happen and that there will be significant development in the South East, however the scale of development originally set out in the draft Plan was already pushing at the limit of the region’s environmental capacity. This revised Plan, with its additional housing, is a step too far at a time when there are huge uncertainties about water resources, waste water disposal, flood risk and sea level rise. How much evidence does the Government need that we cannot keep overloading our environment?”

Whilst the Inspector’s report highlights the need to develop a so-called ‘green-infrastructure’, SWT believes it has missed the opportunity to place the environment at the heart of regional planning.

“If we are going to have development then environmental enhancement must be fully integrated into planning so we get large-scale improvements for wildlife delivered alongside built development.” says Dr Tony Whitbread. “Economy, society and environment should be working in harmony – not fighting against each other.”

For more information on the SE Plan see www.southeast-ra.gov.uk/southeastplan

To read SWT’s response to the SE Plan visit the conservation page on our website at www.sussexwt.org.uk and click on planning and policy.

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