Transition Wilmslow has been trying to raise awareness of the importance of the restoration of Lindow Moss for many years, and has written an optimistic vision of what it could look like if properly rewetted and restored.
Over the last few years, the prospects for restoration have looked very bleak at times, knowing that the planning conditions from 2003 ("fill with inert waste and return to agriculture") still applied. We supported the successful planning application of 2018 which allowed the building of 14 houses on the peat working site because it required Moss restoration to take place before construction and permanently removed the threat of landfill.
We have been hoping to see signs of a restoration programme since planning consent was granted in December 2018, but instead have watched as the Moss deteriorated as it dried out more and more each year. Imagine our surprise when notified yesterday that Moss restoration had begun, organised by the owners, Croghan Peat. The site manager told us that this was genuinely the start of the restoration programme, and the Moss will be restored as promised.
We are still urgently trying to get confirmation from CEC that this is really the case but it does sound as if this internationally renowned area of historic, archeological and ecological significance, and the find spot of Lindow Man, is at last beginning to be restored.
Professor Anthony Jones, from Transition Wilmslow's Lindow Moss Restoration Group says "if this is confirmed, it is a great day for the Moss. The planning conditions require the establishment of a Liaison Committee to ensure that the local community are fully engaged and informed of activities associated with this planning permission. Transition Wilmslow looks forward to supporting the restoration in every way. This is more than a peat bog, this is our cultural landscape."
If you would like to join us in helping to secure the future of Lindow Moss, email us on [email protected] and we will keep you up to date with progress.
Guest post by Pippa Jones.
Comments
Here's what readers have had to say so far. Why not add your thoughts below.
Not be involved.
In answer to Rick Andrew, heavy duty machinery and earth moving equipment has been in operation since Monday without any restoration plan. Which answers the question asked by Ged Lee. No, Condition 31, has not been discharged. We will start with that condition.
Prior to the commencement of the restoration works approved by condition 4, a five year Water Vole Management Scheme shall be submitted and approved in writing by the Mineral Planning Authority. The scheme shall cover the five year period of the physical restoration of the application site and shall include measures to:
Ensure that disturbance to the Water Vole Population within the application is minimised as far as during the restoration process
Provide continuity of habitat within the application site
To make sure we were reading it correctly we even asked a retired consultant with the Plain English Campaign to proof read it. He confirmed it was indeed Plain English!
CEC have confirmed that none of the conditions have been discharged but
it seems this is OK as the peat is being taken away (by the truckload) for analysis. That must be a hell of a big laboratory.
Checking with our hydrogeologist he confirms that the peat being taken away should ideally have been replaced in the ditches it was taken from. The first thing to do when re-wetting peatland is stop the water. To make sure he was right I checked with David Crawshaw who is working on the restoration of Chat Moss peat bog. Strangely he confirmed that our hydrogeologist is right! Just like all the information on Google. You do not take peat away. Where are CEC getting their info from?
For those who have followed the saga of the mess, the very place where the peat is being taken from is also where the underlying sand has been breached and is the source of the problem subsidence at Newgate Kennels. But that's OK as for 17 years both CCC and CEC have insisted it isn't the reason.
To sum it up, conditions have again been ignored, heavy duty plant is taking peat away (for analysis) and this morning CEC inform us that they won't be replying to all of our queries.
Can our local Councillors tell us just what is going on?
I emailed Esther McVey and she is of the same opinion and also CE confirmed that no vole count has been carried out and neither have sluice gates been fitted to conserve the water. Both of these actions were conditional before restoration could start. I think this proves this is no restoration. Esther Mcvey has asked CE to put a stop on the work until these conditions are met. Clearly Croghan Peat intend to continue to ravage this landscape for their own gains and unless we put pressure on CE they will continue to sit on their hands. Why would they attach conditions to their planning decisions if they did not intend to enforce them? What is in it for them?
However, we have been in touch with the consultants who are managing events at Lindow. They confirm that this work is indeed a prelude to restoration and they tell us that the denatured peat is being removed purely to make restoration possible.
Once the peat bunds are clear it will be possible for them to do a topographic survey and to prepare a detailed restoration scheme for each compartment, as required by the 2018 planning consent.
The owners have confirmed ‘that they are committed to restoration and have no intention of backfilling the site.’ The next step will, we hope, be confirmation from Cheshire East Council that the planning requirements affecting the bog and peat farm site have been met. It’s at that point that the threat of landfill will be finally lifted and restoration can proceed.
I ask anybody who feels that this devastation is wrong to lobby their council and MP.