FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) and Frequently Made Assumptions
Here we try to answer your most commonly asked questions on Danes Moss questions on Danes Moss.
How big is Danes Moss?
- The Danes Moss peatland has an estimated area of 600 acres (243 hectares) according to Meade (2023).
- It should be noted that 118 acres of this is taken up by the former Danes Moss Landfill site. Although peat remains under much of the landfill this area is effectively lost and totally destroyed bog. It would be extremely difficult to restore the landfill site to wetland.
- This means that we only really have 482 acres of Danes Moss left (600 acres minus 118 = 482 acres).
- In the past, Danes Moss was greater than 1,000 acres.
Source:
Meade, R. (2023) ‘Peatland SSSI selection criteria – are they fit for purpose?’ Conservation Land Management. Winter 2022. Vol. 20 No. 4. Pg. 34
How big is the SMDA site?
- About 136 acres or 55.05 hectares is yet to be developed. About 30 acres already has houses on it.
Who owns the site?
- Most of the site is owned by Cheshire East Council – about 53.6% of the land or 29.54 hectares. The rest is owned by a private developer, Barratt Developments and a small portion is still owned by Cheshire Demolition.
Don’t we need more houses in Macclesfield?
- We acknowledge that there is a nationwide crisis in access to affordable, good quality housing.
- The way that central and local government deal with this crisis is not for us to determine. We are a small, volunteer-run charity.
- We will never advocate for another site to be developed instead of Danes Moss. We are not attempting to ‘shift the problem’ elsewhere.
- What we can say, is that there is no excuse on earth for developing on a peatland to meet any target (housing, economic growth etc).
Are you a political group?
No.
- We are not aligned to any political party or political actor. We welcome support from all political parties.
- We will always bring rigorous scrutiny to bear on any public figure who spreads misinformation about Danes Moss. No one is exempt from criticism no matter their background.
- We ask our supporters not to bring party political banners and promotional materials to our events. If some supporters want to wear a t-shirt or a badge that identifies them as belonging to a political party that’s their choice.
Developments on Danes Moss North will not affect the Danes Moss SSSI conservation site
False.
- The effect of housing developments on the integrity and function of the local SSSI is unknown and a genuine concern.
- The most direct likely impacts are through causing alterations in the flow, level and chemistry of water, the prime factors governing the unique properties of a raised bog.
- With regard to a former planning application on the site, Natural England have stated that development “could have potential significant effects on Danes Moss Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)” and that “Natural England is of the view that the environmental significance of this development site has not been fully recognised”.
(Natural England comments dated 26 January 2022 on application 19/1796M)
The peat on site is dead. It is emitting more CO2 than it absorbs.
Misleading / Cynical
- The peat is not “dead” but it is no longer growing as new sphagnum growth is generally not occurring. However, this can be reversed through rewetting and restoration. Further, the ‘Peatlands of Cheshire East‘ report was commissioned by the council and is hosted on their website (see link here). Page 5 states that only 1.3% of peatlands in Cheshire East are active carbon sinks. This exposes the ‘peat is dead’ justification as completely cynical.
- The point is, peatlands are incredibly valuable carbon stores even when they are not active carbon sinks. Building on Danes Moss would destroy forever the chance of restoring the site to a carbon sink and release massive CO2 emissions that would otherwise have stayed underground.
- To quantify the current carbon emissions, the dry upper layer of peat and soil will be emitting a small amount of greenhouse gases (mostly methane) as vegetation dies off and decomposition occurs; this is the same for all vegetated areas.
- The mix of habitats on the proposed development area has been estimated to release 7.7-9.3 tonnes of CO2 equivalent/year.
- As a comparison, intensive pasture on peatland (the main land use on peat in Cheshire East) emits approximately 27.5 tonnes of CO2 equivalent/year.
- Re-wetting of the peat profile could result in absorption of 0.02 – 0.9 tonnes of CO2 equivalent/year in perpetuity.
If we rewet and restore the site we will have to destroy the wet woodland habitat used by willow tits.
False and totally misleading.
- The wet woodland is a Priority Habitat in its own right and would be retained in any restoration. There’s no reason to think that it would have to destroyed.
- A mosaic of habitats exist across the whole Moss, which complement each other and the biodiversity they contain.
- Simon Caporn, Professor of Ecology and Environment at Manchester Metropolitan University adds,
‘Any plan for maintaining and improving the existing green space for both nature and carbon will, I expect, want to develop a mosaic of habitats, from restoring Sphagnum peatlands in some areas to grasslands in others and wet woodland – the habitat of willow tits – where it is already exists.’
The site is not suitable for rewetting.
False.
- The site can be restored. There is no good reason to think it can’t since the adjoining SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) was in a worse state back in the 1970s when restoration began. At that time, Danes Moss suffered from regular fires because it was so dried out.
- In other areas arable fields are being restored back to raised mire. Danes Moss would need a lot less work than these areas. Moreover, the Council hold an unpublished report which suggests restoring some of the site to active bog.
- Simon Caporn, Professor of Ecology and Environment at Manchester Metropolitan University adds,
‘The UK has a wealth of experience and an enviable International reputation for restoring peatland habitats in a highly cost-effective manner (Andersen et al, 2016).
In this region are many ongoing restoration projects in both uplands and lowlands where drained and damaged peatlands are being restored. The nearest is the Danes Moss SSSI where restoration work started in the 1970s, Lindow Moss where work commenced recently, while a little further away are Holcroft Moss, Delamere Forest, Chat Moss, Risley Moss, Bowland Fells, Peak District moorlands, Shropshire Meres and Mosses etc.
These and many others are listed in the IUCN UK Peatland Programme Projects Map.
Each site is different and poses challenges, but there is no reason to suspect that the Danes Moss wider peatland cannot be restored.’
‘New technology’ will allow us to build on the peat without massive carbon emissions.
False.
- There is no modern technology that has ever been used to build houses and roads on top of deep peat in this country. An exception might be some developments on permafrost but this is in the Arctic circle not lowland Cheshire where the peat is not permanently frozen.
- A couple of techniques have been proposed in technical reports for the Council but they are completely unproven. A report from 2017 admits that ‘in-situ peat stabilisation‘ would shrink the peat by 20%. Peat shrinkage happens when peat dries out which causes massive carbon emissions.
The landfill site acts as a barrier between the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the development
False.
- A condition of the development on this site is that the developer has to demonstrate that there will be no harm to the Danes Moss SSSI. Natural England have highlighted their major concerns in their recent consultation response.
- It has been identified that there is a continuous peat layer across the whole area, including under the landfill site, and therefore the whole area is a hydrogeologically connected peatland. Drying out the development site will therefore harm the SSSI (as well as destabilising the landfill site).