Ribble Campaigners to Launch Website

Campaigners who object to Preston City Council’s Riverworks proposals to build a barrage across the River Ribble in Lancashire, and build over 4,000 houses and businesses on the River’s floodplain and adjoining green belt, have set up a website which they will launch on Sunday 14th May.

Jane Brunning, Spokesperson for the Save The Ribble Campaign group, says “We are the first community campaigning group in Lancashire, and possibly the North West, to have set up a website to publicise our arguments. We set up the blog to publicise our campaign and to create a forum where local residents could air their views, as residents are not being consulted about these proposals”.

The River Ribble is a Special Protection Area under the Habitats Regulations 1994 (EU Birds Directive 1979) due to its international significance to the ¼ million migratory birds which overwinter on its rich intertidal habitat every year. The Ribble is also a vital habitat for numerous fish species, including the Atlantic Salmon, the 10th most threatened animal species in Europe, and local residents are seriously concerned that this vital habitat should be protected, arguing that a barrage on such an important River will permanently drown the mudflats upriver and starve the rest of their essential nutrients.

The group intend the campaign blog to enable local residents to find out information about any aspect of the proposals which concern them, as well as provide a space where their own opinions can be heard. “We are deeply concerned about the effects the barrage and building development will have on the local environment, and the impact on one of the most important wetland habitats in Britain” Jane explained. “Many local residents are also concerned about the increased floodrisk that the barrage and building developments will bring to areas already at high risk of flooding, and the loss of our local green belt and community amenities. We felt a website would be a great place for the local community to say how they feel about this fantastic area we live in, and the blog is already generating a huge response from local people, and even from people all around the world”.

The campaign group intend to launch their ‘blog’ on Sunday 14th May by sending the web address of the blog  http://save-the-ribble.blogspot.com by email to every councillor in Preston, South Ribble, and Lancashire, to ensure they are fully aware of local people’s opposition to these plans. Jane says “As well as emailing local councillors, we will be walking along the River and through the Nature Reserve, local allotments, and football fields also under threat from the development to highlight how much local people value the Ribble and this whole area as a local amenity. We will end our walk on the Old Tram Bridge over the Ribble, where we will uncork a bottle of champagne to celebrate the launch of our blog”.

Email address:  savetheribble@tiscali.co.uk