I read with interest the letter from Richard Martin (Gazette Letters, May 27, “Let’s see how green our city council is”) regarding Middlewick Ranges, asking about the green credentials of Colchester councillors, the contents of which I agree with.
Let me be frank - 1,000 houses on the Wick should never have been put into the draft local plan in the first place.
It completely undermined any efforts by Colchester’s MP and others to persuade the MoD to withdraw the sale.
Why would they when the council had signalled to them that they are happy with 1,000 houses?
Now we are in the difficult position that the inspector has approved section two of the Local Plan and the future of the Wick will depend on whether there is a mechanism for removing the Wick without the whole plan collapsing.
I will not be voting for any Local Plan which still includes Middlewick Ranges.
It is an act of ecocide to build over a site of rare acid grassland, rich in wildlife, which is the only open green space that many people in the nearby, heavily urbanised areas have.
- Read more >> Controversial Middlewick plans backed by inspectors - with final decision expected in weeks
The MoD were instructed by Theresa May’s government to sell off sites for mass housing estates, regardless of suitability.
This was wrong but even more wrong is local councillors rushing to get such habitats into their local plans in order to keep development out of their wards by dumping it all on someone else.
Since 1970, 41per cent of UK wildlife has declined, according to the 2019 State of Nature Report.
Habitat loss to development is one of the major causes of this.
So no, it is not in any way green to dump development on a wildlife site that is much loved by those who live around it and value green space.
Councillor Mark Goacher Castle Ward,
Morant Road, Colchester
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