The Blackwater Valley Action Group
Environmental issues
Serious environmental issues would arise if the government were to decide to build a 4/6 lane highway through the Blackwater Valley rather than to upgrade the A120 with a route closer to the current line and with quality bypasses for Bradwell, Coggeshall and Marks Tey.
We are concerned that the Highways Agency's proposed "Southern Route" would:
- devastate the Blackwater Valley
- lead to a further weakening of planning restrictions and lead eventually to this beautiful, peaceful, heritage-rich part of rural Essex being filled in with housing and being lost for future generations
- create increased traffic problems in the Coggeshall and Feering area - as there would be no junction for Coggeshall and Earls Colne traffic - and it would not take as much traffic off the existing A120 as other options
In February 2005, the Highways Agency admitted that they had not looked at Coggeshall Hall Farm along the river in the Blackwater Valley, let alone done an environmental survey.

This led us to commission a variety of reports from EECOS, the trading subsidiary of the Essex Wildlife Trust.

The results of the surveys showed that this 400-acre farm possesses one in seven of the British flora, a mosaic of different habitats and is home to a highly threatened bumblebee (bombus ruderatus), great crested newts, otters, kingfishers and egrets.
In its reports, EECOS pointed out the risk of habitat fragmentation and although it might be possible to mitigate for certain species, it is not possible to do so for bombus ruderatus. A bumblebee crossing a dual carriageway is at risk of being squashed. Bumblebees in general are the group that has suffered most from a decline in species and numbers.
An environmentalist employed by Hyder, the consultants used by the Highways Agency said in 2005 that the road going through the valley would be an environmental disaster.
Since 2005 a number of things have happened:
- EECOS has been employed by Braintree District Council to review the wildlife reserves in the area. They have recommended that part of the farm should be designated a wildlife Reserve.
- DEFRA (now RDS) have accepted the farm into the Higher Level Environmental Scheme. Initially there were only four farms in Essex in this category of which this was one.
- The farm is one of only 44 nationally that is contracted to Ribena and the latter has negotiated an agreement with the Wildlife Trusts to improve habitats of all these farms. Having put down three fields to grass or flowery meadows we will be concentrating on attracting more owls in the next few years.
- In 2007, Ribena made a visit to the farm and then brought Tesco along so that they could carry out a joint marketing campaign, based on an environmentally friendly farm.
- Since the EECOS reports were written two species of orchid have been found, the early purple and the bee orchid as well as egrets and now otters.
On a world scale the environment has become a far bigger issue. Sir David King, until recently the Chief Scientific Adviser to the government, has said publicly that he regards the environment as the single greatest threat to the world, far greater than terrorism. In a report commissioned by the Treasury, Sir Nicholas Stern said that up to 40% of species were at risk of extinction over the next 50 years. The mood has changed.
David Cameron, shortly after he was appointed leader included renewable energy in his London house and appointed Zac Goldsmith as Deputy Chairman of the review body on the environment. On December 3rd 2007 he said,"The single most important thing we can all do is to pile pressure on our leaders. We must let them know that they will be rewarded for doing the right thing."
The Prime Minister in November 2007 gave a commitment to reduce CO2 emissions by 26% - 32% by 2020 and by 60% - 80% by 2050.
In a special report in the Observer on December 9th 2007, sponsored by the Carbon Trust (which is funded by DEFRA and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) an article by Robin McKie said," Ministers will need to radically rethink their climate, energy and transport policies and their integration." In a separate article entitled Ten Steps to Success, he put "cut road spending" as the first of these steps.
Although climate change has hit the headlines and will continue to do so, species loss is of equal importance. 25% of all pharmaceuticals are derived from plants, yet fewer than 10% of plants have been examined thoroughly for their chemical constituents.
On a wider scale, developed countries must give a lead to the developing world.

The greatest risk to the world climate change are China and India (and the USA), where over one third of the population lives, but where the growth in economic terms and therefore emissions is greatest.

Broadly there are more species in the tropics and sub-tropics, so these areas are at greatest risk.

We cannot expect these countries to modify their approach to climate change and species loss if we do not give a lead. Germany, Austria and the Scandinavian countries are far ahead of us in renewables.

France has declared no more 'new' roads and Ireland has said no more plastic bags or old style light bulbs.

These things may seem trivial in terms of the world, but they are important in that they show commitment and help answer the concerns of those people living in these countries.

To make matters worse, the Highways Agency's proposed 4/6-lane highway would aggravate local problems in other ways: it is clearly designed to cater for long-distance traffic.
The Highways Agency's proposed Southern route would increase traffic through Coggeshall, Feering and Kelvedon:
- any easing of traffic in Bradwell and Marks Tey would be replaced to a large extent by more traffic in these villages, and there are indications that traffic would be higher in Bradwell than with a route closer to the current line of the A120 but with quality by-passes for Bradwell, Coggeshall and Marks Tey
- the road from Coggeshall to Feering would need widening and straightening in order to take the additional traffic making its way to get on the A120 at Feering
- in order to pick up the new A120 at Feering, traffic would pass the entrance to the secondary school in Coggeshall and two primary schools, one in Coggeshall and one in Feering. Children being dropped off take place in the rush hour, when the extra traffic will make it even more dangerous.