PROPOSALS to build an industrial park at Southmere Green at Erith Marshes suffered a setback this week when Euro-MP Jean Lambert lodged a formal complaint against the UK government over its handling of the planning process,.
Mrs Lambert said: "This complaint will prompt the European Commission to ask the government to look closely at these proposals, which in turn is likely to force the developers back to the drawing board in their search for a suitable site for a development of this kind."
Mrs Lambert, London's Green Party MEP, first raised the issue with the European Commission in January, but has now lodged an official complaint. She told Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom the government has failed to force developers Tilfen Land Ltd and local planners to conduct a satisfactory Environmental Impact Assessment - Mrs Wallstrom will now quiz ministers over the MEPs' claims.
The complaint alleges that the Environmental Impact Assessment required under EU law failed to include adequate public consultation, failed to show the site - which supports rare flora and fauna and is important for breeding and wintering birds - was surplus to requirements.
Developers Tilfen Land Ltd, the complaint alleges, have failed to show their proposals have public backing - or that alternative sites have been considered.
"On the contrary," said Mrs Lambert, "Local residents have themselves suggested not one but 16 preferred alternative brownfield, local sites.
"Southmere Green is simply not the best location for a development of this type: it is on the boundary of a protected conservation site - from which it appears to have been excluded on purely planning grounds, despite its importance as a wildlife habitat.
"Of course local people need local jobs, but there's no point in creating local jobs if people leave the area because it ceases to be a nice place to live.
The MEP added: "Local residents must be allowed their say in a proper public consultation and all alternative brownfield sites should be considered before Southmere Green, one of few remaining examples of Thames-side grazing marsh, is lost."
The controversial
development, which has sparked widespread protest and objection in Belvedere,
has been proposed by Tilfen Land Ltd. The firm plans to build offices, warehousing
and car parking on the Southmere Green section of Erith Marshes, which was excluded
from the area protected as a
Site of metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation
(SMINC) against the wishes of the Mayor of London's own biodiversity team.
ENDS
Note
to Editors
Copies of Jean Lambert's complaint to the European Commission and
a list of alternative brownfield sites - available on request
For more information please contact Ben or Katy on 020 7407 6280, 07973 823358 or at press@greenmeps.org.uk