Implications for Thames Estuary Airport Island in Dutch report on river barrage

Scheme could bring floods, destroy wildlife and livelihoods

The potentially disastrous effects caused by a barrage across a Dutch river have raised fresh concerns over Mayor Boris Johnson?s ambitions for the Thames Estuary.

An official report, obtained by the RSPB, details the flood risk as well as the devastating impacts for wildlife, fishing, tourism and shipping from the construction of a storm surge barrier across the Oosterschelde estuary in the 1980s.

While the Thames is larger than the Oosterschelde, the Dutch report sheds fresh light on the previously unrecognised scale of the impacts that an island or a barrage can have on the estuarine environment. This has serious implications for Mayor Boris Johnson?s proposal to build a new International airport on two artificial islands in the Thames Estuary.

The Dutch report found that:

? Increased erosion has led to the loss of mudflats along the estuary, leading to higher waves and water levels. Huge sums will have to be spent strengthening coastal defences to protect lives and property.

? By 2050, the tidal flats of the Oosterschelde will have more than halved, falling from 11,000ha in 1986 to about 5,000ha in 2045 and 1,500ha by the end of the century.

? Salt marshes will disappear from all but the most sheltered locations by 2050.

? Less intertidal habitat will mean less shellfish and fewer birds. Oystercatcher numbers will have crashed 80 per cent by 2045 with other species ?awaiting the same fate?.

? Shipping channels will become shallower and harder to navigate.

? Shellfisheries will be hit because of loss of habitat for the cockles and mussels.

? Tourism will be hit by the loss of wildlife interest.

AS the RSPB releases its report, Mayor Boris Johnson is launching two new draft climate change strategies for London. A copy of the RSPB?s report has been sent to the Mayor?s Environmental Advisor, Isabel Dedring.

RSPB regional director Chris Corrigan said: ?The Dutch experience adds weight to the argument against an estuary airport. The impact of the Oosterschelde barrage on the river?s wildlife and natural flood defences must be taken in to account. We all want London to be a world leading, sustainable city, and together we can do that by learning lessons from the past. We look forward to seeing the implications of the Oosterschelde report incorporated into Mayor Johnson?s final strategy documents.?

For more information please contact:

Sophie McCallum, RSPB south east media officer, t: 01273 763603