Dear friends,
How about some good local news?
The campaign to save Danes Moss North LWS (Local Wildlife Site) from the development plans of Cheshire East Council and Barratt Developments has gone from strength to strength this year. Our legal fund has nearly reached £40k which puts us in an even stronger position to bring legal challenges against any new planning permissions to build on or near the Danes Moss peatland. We would rather not spend this money on legal battles. Our preference is to use it to restore Danes Moss North to a re-wetted bog habitat with access maintained for nature lovers!
And on that note: we are hopeful that we will finally secure a meeting with Cheshire East Council leadership to present our case for an alternative future for Danes Moss North. We are pursuing different strategies to defend Danes Moss from development and meeting decision makers is just one of them.
We also have news from another campaign to defend nature. Longridge in Knutsford is a re-wilded site that’s completely the wrong place to put houses. An application for 225 houses was rejected by the Council’s planning board but the developer has appealed and a Public Inquiry will be held to decide the fate of the land.
Back to bogs… Maybe you have heard the Irish folk song ‘The Rattlin’ Bog’ which sings about bog wildlife? This version is adapted for kids and is a great introduction to the idea of bogs as wonderful places, full of life and maybe even song! Take a look here…
Thank you for your fantastic support to defend our own rattlin’ bog… Danes Moss! With best wishes,
Thomas Eccles
Chair – SAVE DANES MOSS
THE CURRENT SITUATION
The Danes Moss peatland is threatened because it has been allocated for development projects by Cheshire East Council in The Local Plan. The South Macclesfield Development Area is one of these proposed development sites at 136 acres. The land is still largely owned 50/50 by Cheshire East Council and Barratt Homes.
- At present, the plan for 950 homes remains. 10 planning applications need to be approved before anything can happen but they have not yet been decided.
- We think the entire project will be withdrawn and developers may present a smaller development project as a ‘compromise’ solution.
We are clear that no construction should be taking place on OR next to the Danes Moss peatland. We will not compromise on this. Why? Because Danes Moss used to cover 1,000+ acres of peatland and has now been reduced to around 480 acres entirely by human destruction. Enough harm has been done. We will not tolerate any more.
NEWS
Natural carbon sinks even more important according to shock research
This month, The Guardian reported on new research showing that the world’s land-based carbon sinks hardly removed any carbon from the atmosphere last year. This is because of how damaged and degraded these places have become thanks to rising global temperatures, fires, deforestation and wetland drainage. It is grave news and makes our terrestrial carbon sinks even more important if we want to survive climate change as a species.
CHRISTMAS CARDS
Support Save Danes Moss this Christmas by purchasing our exclusive 2024 Christmas cards.
Artwork created and generously donated by Save Danes Moss supporter The Rambling Artist. Cards feature 4 beautiful watercolour images of wildlife living on Danes Moss.
£7 for a pack of 8 cards or £1 each. All proceeds go to support our legal and restoration fund.
Cards will be available to purchase at:
Macclesfield Library Charity Christmas Card shop (library opening hours 2 Nov-7 Dec)
And at the Save Danes Moss stall at Treacle Market on 24 Nov
If you are thinking about Christmas gifts look no further than our online shop. We have new products and some new colours in existing items to meet your needs. Printed to order on organic cotton. All proceeds go to our legal fund. Check out t-shirts, sweaters and hoodies for men, women and children. Online shop here…
Longridge public inquiry from 12 November
Longridge is an area behind Knutsford half of which is a council estate. The other half is rewilding land that has never been subject to intensive agriculture (farming was abandoned in the 1940s). Because of this, the soil health and wildlife here is incredible. This place is a mixture of ancient woodland, young woodland, scrub, wild grasslands, and a fen.
Dewscope Ltd is a company owned and run by one man (Mark Horrocks, an investment fund manager). His company owns the development site at Longridge. He wants planning permission for 225 houses on this land. His development proposal would likely lead to the removal of 500 trees on site and the complete removal of the fen. The council’s Strategic Planning Board rejected his application last year. However, he has appealed and now a Public Inquiry will be held. A government Planning Inspector will use the Inquiry to decide whether to uphold the Council’s refusal of planning permission or grant Horrocks the right to replace this wilderness with a housing estate.
You can attend the Public Inquiry at Macclesfield Town Hall from 10am on any of the following days: 12th, 13th, 14th November and 19th, 20th, 21st November.
You should notify the case officer at john.legg@planninginspectorate.gov.uk and
quote the following information:
Appeal reference: APP/R0660/W/24/3347883
Planning application: 21/3100M
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
- Join our committees
We need help with our events and communications. Can you help us to hold a stall or other events? Or produce social media content? If so, please express interest to: savedanesmoss@protonmail.com
UPCOMING EVENTS
- Throughout the year
We are doing lots of guided walks and school talks for local primary schools all about Danes Moss. If anyone knows a group/organisation that would like a talk or guided
site visit please get in touch savedanesmoss@protonmail.com
And as always, please sign up to our mailing list here if you would like our newsletters delivered direct to your inbox…
