Courtesy of the Goodwin Sands SOS group.
Two weeks ago in the pouring rain, Lewis Pugh, (http://lewispugh.com/) the endurance swimmer and advocate of ocean conservation, completed his mammoth 330 mile swim along the length of the English Channel at Dover. As he stood on the beach with Michael Gove the Environment Secretary, Lewis denounced the mockery of allowing dredging, the most destructive of activities, in a soon-to-be designated Marine Conservation Zone. In reply, Mr Gove said that he would ask the Marine Management Organisation to review the evidence on which they based their licence decision.
This week, we released video footage (
) of a possible WWII bomber discovered lying on the seabed within the buffer zone of the proposed dredging area. Despite being surveyed twice, this aircraft crash site was merely identified as ‘seafloor disturbance‘. We are now calling into question the reliability of Wessex Archaeology’s surveys and reports and the quality of the evidence on which the MMO granted the licence. We have written to the Secretary of State for Defence to insist that the dredging licence is suspended or at least revoked until all the remaining anomalies are ground-truthed i.e. positively identified by either diver or remotely operated vehicle.
Meanwhile, Richard Buxton Ltd is progressing our case to seek grounds for a Judicial Review. We will be launching a full blown CrowdJustice fund raising campaign when we know whether our JR is granted. However, if anyone feels like contributing towards the initial legal fees (about £11k) all donations, large or small, will be very gratefully received and can be made here
https://goodwinsandssos.org.
