Snoasis

[mrs fish]

The public inquiry started yesterday (24th Jan) into this monster they want to bulid in Suffolk.
I am against it (naturally) not only is it the wildlife,rare pond bat, Great Crested Newts, bat hibernation caves etc it is the energy it takes to run the place etc etc

Here is link Snoasis Concern - Home

and here is inquiry diary which will be updated dailyhttp://www.snoasisconcern.com/view.aspx?ID=168


The snoasis concern people put a hot air balloon in the sky at the start of the campaign to show how high the ski slope would be and it was sabotaged.

It is not going to be an easy fight

[mrs fish]

Have you all got shares in the place?

[mrs fish]

Latest

http://www.eveningstar.co.uk/content...A31%3A25%3A140

[hobble]

Just the sort of place I would avoid, have read they have to go down the green route to secure planning. This is the way a lot of plans for buildings are being allowed these days regardless of the destruction of our wild areas.
As you have said in your posts it is likely to go ahead along with everything else people seem to protest about, democracy of sorts?

[Crested Newt]

Its disgusting being only a few miles from me, I hear some rare bats would be disturbed by the work (anyone know the species name??). It might benefit in some ways but NOT on the environment.

[fairplay]

I believe Mrs Fish means the not so rare Daubentons Bat when she talks about the 'very rare pond bat'. Natterers Bat is the other important species present.

The bat cave is off site and will be undisturbed, what will probably be disturbed is their flight patterns and only experts will be able to say if that is a serious issue.

There is a high density of Badgers in this part of Suffolk, they may or may not be affected.

As for Gt Crested Newts, I'm sure enthusiasts have had lots of practice in transferring these from other ponds in the past and probably the same will happen in this case.

Right, having cleared up these exaggerations, perhaps Mrs Fish can tell us if Snoasis is going to be built on the old dusty cement factory site, or in the old quarry being used for landfill.

[mrs fish]

Snoasis will cover a large area as it will have yatching lakes a nine hole golf course as well as the snow complex, hotels,shops,train station and new roads.
BBC - Suffolk Don't Miss - Should SnOasis be built?

The only good to come out of it from my point of view will be less people flying off to Europe every winter for ski-ing.

[Crested Newt]

I helped move some Crested Newts this morning, moved 15 SAFELY to another pond. They seemed happy enough and at least they were safe. Also Mrs Fish is right, The Pond Bat is a species, she did not mean the Daubentons Bat, the Pond Bat is rare and inhabits that area. Its actually a species. Look it up.

[fairplay]

I know Bob Stebbings well and just read his report more thoroughly.

I was wrong, and I do apologise to mrs Fish, the Pond Bat Myotis dasycneme is present in the area and that is obviously what she was referring to.

Bob Stebbings is a highly respected bat expert and I accept his concerns.

However, people must understand what the site used to be. For years, it was a very large cement production factory with a large concrete chimney, far taller than Snoasis, which used to spew out tons of dust which would settle on cars, washing, everything.

I know, because I used to live in the next village at Claydon, worked at BSP and on the construction of the large fuel depot just up the road, and I was always cleaning my vehicle because of the dust.

Surely Snoasis will not be as bad as the cement factory, even less so now because they have to produce their own electricity, how cleanly only time will tell.

It may surprise you to know I do not want Snoasis to be built, mainly because land will be lost where chalk grassland can be created which could support more Orchids and other scarce species.

I write this only to put things in a truer perspective.

[mrs fish]

I used to live on Chalk Hill Lane so know the area quite well.
Thanks for confirmation about the pond bat and Bob Stebbings as I was begining to wonder if it was true as the only sighting of the bat I could find in the uk was in Kent.

Do I take it the caves where alot of bats hibernate in winter and the sand cliffs where the sand martins breed is not going to be affected by Snoasis ?

I don't want to see Snoasis built

[fairplay]

The main bat cave is situated in an old chalk quarry less than half a mile from Lt Blake' Church. I have to be careful what I say as although it is now secure with very strong grating at the entrance, the SWT and Natural England would not want too many people knowing of the site, and also the quarry floor is a haven for rare, chalk loving plants.
I worked on this site with the SWT about 28 years ago clearing bramble and tree invasion, sadly on my last visit it was beginning to look overgrown again.

I say 'main' bat cave because at the time chalk excavation was still taking place in other nearby quarries and other caves may have been created.

'Fraid I know nothing of Sand Martin cliffs, these were probably created by Blue Circle well away from public rights of way so inquisitive children don't disturb them.

[The Woodman]

When the Pond Bat is described as "rare" as it most certainly is in this country (the news was new to me), along with several other "rare" bats, is it because they are at the northern limit of their range and just into Britain?

I think Pond Bats are fairly common in Europe. Perhaps a bit of disturbance will push it back into its core range.

[mrs fish]

It is endangered and protected
Pond Bat - description page

It is the caves what are most important to them for hibernating.

[The Woodman]

I'm not suprised they're endangerd if from what your link tells me that in June the females bear one son! (of course, that's in Estonia)
Agreed, all bat species in Britain are protected.

[Crested Newt]

Fairplay you live up to your name . Also I didn't mean any offense when I said Look it up.

[fairplay]

No offence taken Crested Newt, it made me check up my 'facts' more thoroughly, in fact I've another apology to make to mrs Fish - I was under the impression SnOsis was going to be built at the far end of the quarry currently being used for landfill when actually it is going in another quarry set even further back (from the road) with a sort of 'access corridor/finger' connecting it to a new roundabout to be built at the junction with the B1113 (near to where the Suffolk County Council Highways Dept' salt depot is for the gritting lorries)

The old dusty Blue Circle (Mason's) cement factory site will in fact be used for housing accommodation for staff (or guests) with another access lane going through the fuel depot to get to the complex.

As I said in an earlier post, I helped construct the fuel depot which was built to supply JP4 jet fuel for the Yanks at Woodbridge and Bentwaters air bases.
The fuel was pumped along underground pipelines all the way from Scotland, Milton Keynes, Gt Blakenham and on to the bases.

Four storage tanks each holding 5 Million gallons (if my memory is correct) of JP4 were built just underground and capped with tons of soil to suppress an explosion which was designed to go straight up in the air.

The new housing mini estate will be perilously close to the corner storage tank just across the road. I've no idea if the tanks are in use still.
At the top of the hill in Chalk Hill Lane there is a strange round concrete construction about a yard high and 10 yards across in a field with a notice with an emergency phone number on it, this is an inspection chamber for the hush hush pipeline. One of the 2 nine hole golf courses for will be built here.

It seems Natural England (formerly English Nature) have dropped all their objections apart for the G C Newt, insisting they must be transferred to another pond as good or better than their existing pond.

I must stress the bat cave is in a separate quarry half a mile away from the boundary with SnOasis with the entrance facing away from any glare from SnOasis and a hill in between, but it is their flight path which could be affected. Other quarries are nearby with suitable ponds so that may be why NE have dropped this objection.

Right ! I'm off to bed.

[vole-woman]

It seems Natural England (formerly English Nature) have dropped all their objections apart for the G C Newt, insisting they must be transferred to another pond as good or better than their existing pond.

I really don't get this. My friend bought a farm to set up a stables and found she has GCNs on her property. She had (rightly) to put in SO much protection for them eg special fencing costing thousands of pounds, was not allowed to build certain buildings in certain places, had to follow absolutely stacks of regulations under threat of huge fines and constant checks. How come she has to do all that and yet this Snoasis development can just shift the newts out of the way and get on with whatever they like?

The application of wildlife law sometimes comes across as so haphazard.

[fairplay]

Big money Vole-woman, big money !

It is not as straight forward as that though, it would appear Mr Spanner (SnOsis) is at odds with Natural England. Where a large development is proposed (money money!) a developer will be allowed to remove a protected species but only if a suitable nearby alternative site is available.

Possibly Mr Spanner is insisting he has a site in mind and NE are saying it's not suitable. At the end of the day, if there is no suitable alternative, the application fails (that is the law), or the newts stay and Mr spanner has to drastically change his plans !!

[vole-woman]

All power to the newts, I say.

I don't believe in stopping development for obstruction's sake, but if a law's in place, people should be abiding by it.

[wrogers]

I live near stowmarket, and it wont spoil my view from my house, but I drive through Gt Blakenham on my way to school and enjoy looking at the countrysie along there and I am now interested in the nature and wildlife around there and I think it is a disgrace to ruin the countryside just to attract a few more visitors up from london, who might buy second homes potentially driving houseprices up and worst of all the increased number of visitors will make the road infrastructure strained and make everywhere busier!!

anyway It will provide more things for people to do, more jobs during building works and to run it, however we all know the locals will get only a few of the jobs... and it will get vandalised

however at least we have Minsmere and many woodland areas...