Plans to lease 200 acres of saltmarshes off the Canvey coast to the RSPB were put on ice after opposition from other wildlife groups.
Castle Point's highways and leisure committee put off a decision after Canvey Wildfowling and Conservation group revealed it had been managing the mudflats north of the island for more than 40 years, with full backing of English Nature.
The group, made up of unpaid volunteers, claimed the "fragmented management" the council was proposing would have a detrimental effect on the whole area.
Keith Webster, secretary of the island's Wildfowling and Conservation group, said: "The whole area is already heavily protected. It's a site of special scientific interest so there is honestly is no danger of it being developed.
"The idea to sell the land to the RSPB was ill thought out.
"The saltmarshes in question are only a small part of a very large area which we have been maintaining in a low key manner since the 1960s."
The proposed sites, one near the Newlands and the other at the rear of the golf club, cover 800,000 metres square.
Published Tuesday July 20, 2004
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