Welcome to the Journal of the South East Essex RSPB Group
Wallasea Island Wild Coast Project - A Proposal for the UK’s Largest Coastal Restoration Project
The RSPB has reached an agreement with Wallasea Farms, the current landowners, to purchase 769 ha of farmland. However, this purchase will only go ahead if, over the next two years, we can secure the necessary consents, and attract the funding required to achieve our vision.
Support from local people, businesses, authorities, and Government Agencies is critical for us to be able to achieve these consents and to secure the funding we need. And that’s why we’re writing to you now, to begin the consultation on the future of Wallasea Island.
Our vision
Our vision is to restore the landscape on Wallasea Island to a habitat that existed over 400 years ago, before the landscape was altered to be put to agricultural use.
This will create 320 hectares of mudflats, 160 hectares of saltmarsh, 96 hectares of shallow saline lagoons, 64 hectares of brackish grazing marsh and 129 hectares of pasture fields. If we’re able to do this, we’ll have created a very large, accessible, wildlife rich area of the coast that would be enjoyed by local people and visitors alike.
We think the best way of achieving this is a method known as “tidal exchange”. This would enable saltwater from adjacent estuaries to be brought onto the Island by pipes or culverts through the existing sea walls, in a carefully managed and controlled way. This would allow us to leave the sea walls in place, and would create a shallow water landscape of marsh, islands, lagoons and creeks. The water would be between 400mm (15 inches) and 600mm (23 inches) deep, rising and falling with the tide.
Wallasea was originally five separate islands, and we believe these ancient divisions can be recreated by a series of low earth walls, each area having its own water control structure to allow limited quantities of water onto and off the site with each tide.
It’s important to emphasise that the developed area of Wallasea to the west of the island will not be affected, and will be protected from flooding by the existing sea walls.
Why do we want to do this?
There are several reasons why we are seeking to develop this scheme for Wallasea Island. We’re excited about the size of the project, and the enormous opportunity that it currently presents. Quite simply, this will be the largest coastal wetland restoration project ever undertaken in the UK.
However, there are other reasons that make the case for restoration even more compelling:
The proposed wetland would restore a lost and forgotten heritage landscape, recreating a natural environment that was present throughout South Essex hundreds of years ago.
We can secure the future of Wallasea Island through the project. It is unlikely that it would have been sustainable to continue to farm the land, as rising sea levels threaten the viability of the sea walls.
Our plans would help defend the rest of Wallasea Island and the surrounding coastline from predicted rises in sea levels. At present, the majority of the island lies below sea level at high tide. It is our intention to raise land levels by the excavation of existing fields, tidal silt deposition from the seawater, and possibly the import of dredgings.
The benefits for wildlife are predicted to be immense. The new wetland will provide habitat for thousands of birds to nest and feed alongside areas that saltwater fish such as bass, herring and flounder can use as a nursery. These habitats are threatened in other parts of the region, so are greatly in demand.
The project will also make significant contributions to national biodiversity targets.
Importantly, we intend to create areas of public access that could be visited and enjoyed by local people, as well as attracting visitors to the area.
In summary, this long term project would help this part of the coast adjust to rising sea levels, at the same time as providing an attractive, accessible area of coastal marshes for local people, and for local wildlife.
The next steps
Our vision is of a project that works side-by-side with existing plans for the area. The RSPB is going to spend the next two years organising specialist studies to ensure that the proposed wetland will not only provide a sustainable long term solution for Wallasea Island, but will also assist with providing improved flood defence to the developed section of the island.
There will be no changes to the landscape of Wallasea Island until this period of planning and research is complete.
Running alongside this planning stage will be an extensive amount of public consultation, which you and your communities will be invited to participate in. We will be actively seeking your views, and your help and support in developing this project. Where it is possible and fits with the objectives of the project, we will also seek to build into the design your ideas for what you would like to see on the site.
We are already working with some interest groups in the area. For instance, the RSPB has developed a close relationship with Wallasea Farms, and in recent years we’ve managed land on the farm, and provided advice on farmland wildlife.
The Environment Agency has, through it’s Roach and Crouch Flood Management Strategy, already indicated that it’s preferred option is to realign the sea walls on the majority agricultural section of Wallasea by 2054, whilst continuing to maintain the sea walls that protect the developed western section of the island. The RSPB will work closely with the Environment Agency in developing this strategy.
How can you get involved?
If you would like to get involved in this process, or require more information, please contact me at the above address and telephone number or by email to mark.dixon@rspb.org.uk.
A project of this scale will need considerable help and support to realise the vision. If you like the idea of this project, and would like to contribute to it financially, we would be delighted to receive your support. Please contact me to discuss this further. We estimate that it will cost around £500,000 to take this project through the feasibility, design and fundraising stage. As a charity, we rely on the support and goodwill of members of the public to turn our plans into reality.
Having managed the existing Defra scheme on Wallasea Island, which you may already be aware of, I am confident that this project can be just as successful. I am now working full time for the RSPB on secondment from the Environment Agency to develop these proposals, and I look forward to meeting you soon as part of this process.
To assist with the Environmental Impact Assessment that eventually will inform the planning permission decision, we are asking people to contact Mark by email or letter with their comments and hopefully their support. There may be members of the public and non government organisations who could object to the project, and we have to counter with support as we apply for the licences and consents. - Ed.
Mark Dixon
RSPB Project Manager
Email: mark.dixon@rspb.org.uk.
