September 2008: Ipswich Wildlife Group lobbied the Executive of Ipswich Borough Council. The Executive said they would discuss our request in their policy committee meeting in late September or early October. The Executive have subsequently revised this to November 3rd.
The briefing that IWG presented to the Executive is available for download.
October 2008: Our campaign has reached the BBC - read all about it at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/7661403.stm.
A good number of IBC councillors have now been on tours of the site, which is encouraging. Your letters are clearly making an impact.
In asking to Save Kiln Meadow we have the law on our side. It's the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006, also known as NERC. It gives councils a responsibilty to avoid the destruction of wildlife sites. The central Wildlife Trusts have produced a leaflet describing these reponsibilities - it makes interesting reading (download the leaflet). Note on page 4 that it says "In any potential sale of council property, property services must have regard for the implications on European Protected Species".
November 2008: A local expert and wildlife consultant, George Millins, kindly offered to conduct a reptile survey on Kiln Meadow in support of the campaign. We asked Ipswich Borough Council for permission, as they are the landowners. They have refused permission, and given no reason for doing so. So we are wondering - what have they got to hide?
Over the past 2 months we've been trying to find out from Babergh District Council whether they took any account of wildlife when they gave outline planning permission in October 2007, and why they ignored an email from Suffolk Wildlife Trust sent in March 2007 telling them about the toads . After writing twice to Babergh and making numerous phone calls, we still haven't got any answers. We thought that you might like to see the correspondence, so that you can see just how obstructive Babergh are being.
December 2008: The toads have won a reprieve
We understand that Ipswich Borough council today issued a press release stating that they will not immediately put Kiln Meadow up for sale. They are going to initiate thorough wildlife surveys of the site before they re-consider the sale. The press have shown considerable interest, aware that lots of local people are concerned about the potential loss of a nationally important wildlife site. Kevin Burch, of BBC's Look East asked for our comments on this news - look out for his report on Tuesday or else later in the week. We congratulate IBC for considering the laws protecting wildlife and the feelings of all of us - the local people who care about wildlife.
Bobbits Meadows a County Wildlife Site
Bobbits Meadows, adjacent to Kiln Meadow, have recently been designated a County Wildlife Site. The existing County Wildlife Site that includes Ashground Plantation alder carr that is immediately adjacent has been enlarged to cover the meadows. This designation was in recognition both of the wide variety of birds attracted to the wetlands and because it is “important breeding habitat for huge numbers of toads which migrate across the lane each spring.”
More details of Suffolk’s County Wildlife Sites can be found at:
January 2009: IBC commissioned a 'Phase 1 Ecological Assessment' of Kiln Meadow last summer, however we don't think this report adequately conveys the wildlife value of the site. We asked a professional ecologist to review the report - read their critique.
May 2009: The following press release was issued by SKiM:
In a recent case in which the Local Government Ombudsman reached a 'local settlement', Babergh District Council (BDC) were found to be 'at fault' in failing to take wildlife and biodiversity legislation into account when granting outline planning permission for an area known as Kiln Meadow, part of the Thorrington Hall development. (Planning application number B/02/01984). The planning application was made by Ipswich Borough Council, who own the land.
The complainants were Ray Sidaway and Jen Jousiffe, members of Ipswich Wildlife group (IWG) and of the Save Kiln Meadow Campaign (SkiM). They failed to get satisfactory replies to questions about the outline planning permission granted on an area known as Kiln Meadow, adjacent to Bobbitts Lane to the south of Ipswich. This planning permission had taken 5 years to process, from 2002 to 2007, during which time two new nature reserves were declared, adjacent to this land, in addition to Spring Wood ancient woodland County Wildlife Site. The planners seemed unaware of these two new nature reserves, had not contacted Suffolk Wildlife Trust about any wildlife considerations, had ignored information received about the significant toad population in the area, and seemingly ignored Babergh's own wildlife policies.
In 2006, the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act (NERC 2006) was passed which placed responsibility on councils to take wildlife interests into account when carrying out functions such as planning.
So the complainants wrote to the Ombudsman. The complaint was that BDC failed to take into account NERC 2006, and their own wildlife policies, when granting the planning permission. BDC continued to argue that they didn't have to take NERC 2006 into account.
Considering all the arguments, the Ombudsman suggested a 'local settlement' and wrote to the council stating that
'While I note your comment that any subsequent application will be looked at in accordance with current law and policies, it remains the case that, at the time outline planning permission was granted in 2007, the existing law and policies which had changed from 2003/2004 were not considered. I consider this to be fault by the council'
See the letter from the Ombudsman
A statement made to the complainants by BDC's Deputy Chief Executive said:-
'I hope our correspondence with the Ombudsman does reassure you that Babergh takes nature conservation interests and biodiversity very seriously, especially when dealing with developments such as the one at Thorrington Hall. In the case of this development, Babergh will ensure that these interests are fully taken into account when any further planning applications are submitted on the site
The ombudsman also suggested that BDC should give the complainants £100 for their time and trouble. This has been donated to IWG.
One of the complainants, Jen Jousiffe, of Ipswich, said 'It is sad that we had to take this case to the ombudsman, but we felt our letters to the council had not been taken seriously. Clearly, the planners should have taken NERC 2006 into account; it is good news for local wildlife that the ombudsman agrees with us. Babergh District Council have some very good policies on wildlife, unfortunately they do not seem to have detailed processes to ensure that these policies are actually implemented. I would request Babergh Council to put such processes in place as soon as possible.'
Toad Update
Toad patrols have been operating for several years along Bobbitts Lane (adjacent to Kiln Meadow) and have assisted record numbers of toads across the lane, from Kiln Meadow and Millennium Wood into the wet meadows. In 2009, 5475 toads were counted, a likely UK record. This is a nationally important population which will be severely affected if not destroyed by the planned development of Kiln Meadow.
21st January 2010: There hasn't been much to report over the past 6 months as we've been waiting for IBC to make a decision about their next step (they originally said they would make a decision last summer - see their press release 8/12/2008). However things are now starting to happen: IBC tell us that the Executive intend to make a decision about the sale of Kiln Meadow during the next 6 months. Furthermore Bellway Homes have already enquired to IBC about the site and have had surveyors working there.
15th April 2010: With the coming election, there is a sense that our long campaign may be reaching a climax. So here is an update on the situation as we understand it:
We believe that development of the site will contravene wildlife legislation. We have previously taken action against Babergh District Council, using the Local Government Ombudsman, and we will not hestitate to do the same with Ipswich Borough Council if they decide to destroy this nationally important site.
What we want IBC to do is to not sell the site, to allow the planning permission to lapse, and to survey the site thoroughly, consulting with expert opinion before deciding on it's future.
The latest news can be found on the main SKiM page.