2024-11-21 12:22:26 +0000
To: Colchester City Council
Defend the wildlife of Middlewick Ranges
An outstanding wildlife and community site in Essex is under serious threat from the development of up to 1,000 houses. We need your help to secure the future of this nationally important haven for wildlife- please sign our petition and help to save the Middlewick Ranges.
Why is this important?
Sitting on the southern edge of Colchester, the Middlewick Ranges is a former Ministry of Defence firing range that has become a much-loved wildlife space in an increasingly congested city. Locally known as ‘the Wick’, this 76ha mosaic of flowery acid grassland, sandy slopes, scrub, woodland and hedgerows is home to a rich diversity of animals.
The Wick is a key breeding area for the second-best population of Red Listed Nightingale in the UK, and a home to nesting Skylarks and Vulnerable Barbastelle Bats, while small mammals and reptiles also find a refuge here. It supports almost 1,500 invertebrate species, including a quarter of all the UK’s spiders and a quarter of all the butterflies and moths found in Essex. This includes threatened species such as the Four-banded Weevil-wasp (Cerceris quadricincta) and the Endangered Necklace Ground Beetle (Carabus monilis).
However, despite the Wick’s huge value for wildlife and people, the site has been earmarked for up to 1,000 houses in Colchester’s Local Plan, and the Ministry of Defence has put the site up for sale. This would be a disaster for its precious wildlife.
This petition calls for Colchester City Council to recognise that Essex’s largest acid grassland is too special to be lost under concrete. We urge the Council to take this vital opportunity to remove the Middlewick Ranges allocation as part of its Local Plan review and find an alternative site that is less harmful to nature.
Please sign our petition to save the wonderful Wick!
This petition is supported by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Colchester Natural History Society, CPRE Essex, Essex Field Club, Essex Wildlife Trust, Friends of Middlewick, Essex Birdwatching Society and RSPB.
For more information, please visit the Buglife campaign webpage and the Save the Middlewick Ranges website.
The Wick is a key breeding area for the second-best population of Red Listed Nightingale in the UK, and a home to nesting Skylarks and Vulnerable Barbastelle Bats, while small mammals and reptiles also find a refuge here. It supports almost 1,500 invertebrate species, including a quarter of all the UK’s spiders and a quarter of all the butterflies and moths found in Essex. This includes threatened species such as the Four-banded Weevil-wasp (Cerceris quadricincta) and the Endangered Necklace Ground Beetle (Carabus monilis).
However, despite the Wick’s huge value for wildlife and people, the site has been earmarked for up to 1,000 houses in Colchester’s Local Plan, and the Ministry of Defence has put the site up for sale. This would be a disaster for its precious wildlife.
This petition calls for Colchester City Council to recognise that Essex’s largest acid grassland is too special to be lost under concrete. We urge the Council to take this vital opportunity to remove the Middlewick Ranges allocation as part of its Local Plan review and find an alternative site that is less harmful to nature.
Please sign our petition to save the wonderful Wick!
This petition is supported by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Colchester Natural History Society, CPRE Essex, Essex Field Club, Essex Wildlife Trust, Friends of Middlewick, Essex Birdwatching Society and RSPB.
For more information, please visit the Buglife campaign webpage and the Save the Middlewick Ranges website.
