.. it would appear that given the news today, 29/3/22; including a decision by Natural England to designate the location as a ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’ (SSSI) – have led developers to withdraw their planning application.
The long-awaited entertainment destination was set to open in 2025 – occupying a 1,245 acre site.
Recent artist impressions showed flood lights illuminating a huge medieval-themed castle and lava waterfalls.
This comes after the brownfield site – the size of 136 Wembley Stadiums – was deemed a SSSI by Natural England due to its abundance of wildlife including otters, water voles, and rare birds and insects.
Following this decision, in a letter sent to the Infrastructure Planning Inspectorate late last year, Gerbeau said there would not be ‘material changes’ to the resort’s application – instead suggesting there would be ‘subtle changes in the green infrastructure strategy’.
But it appears that bosses have decided to reassess the situation altogether.
However Gerbeau is confident that bosses will resubmit their application towards the end of the year.
But at the moment, the tiny 1cm jumping spider, the water voles, the common Buzzard, plus a host of other wildlife at this SSSI have gained more time for environmentalists and campaigners to act in their support – which of course we very much welcome.
There is much more info, including graphics, in the following article links which I have provided.
Regards Mark (and all the wildlife)
Environmentalists fear the proposed London Resort mega-attraction, dubbed the ‘British Disneyland’, on the Swanscombe Peninsula, Kent, would harm wildlife – including a critically endangered jumping spider
The Swanscombe Peninsula, Kent (pictured above) was designated a site of special scientific interest earlier this year
News 29/3/22:
Plans for £3.5billion British Disneyland theme park in Kent are DROPPED after delays caused by green activists and planning battle with furious locals
But numerous obstacles – including a decision by Natural England to designate the location as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) – have led developers to withdraw their planning application.
Just weeks earlier, the BBC and ITV both pulled out of the plans amid concerns from wildlife experts over the impact of the park on a tiny spider just 1cm long.
The backlash from nature lovers around the distinguished jumping spider – a critically endangered species found in just one other part of the UK – killed off both broadcasters’ interest in the scheme.
Chief Executive of the London Resort, PY Gerbeau, said today: ‘In the best interests of the London Resort, we are withdrawing the current application; as a result of the classification of Tilbury as a Freeport which has meant revisions are required in moving the ferry terminal from Tilbury to Grays.
A colossal theme park on the outskirts of London has been derailed, in a temporary victory for environmental campaigners.
Plans for a park big enough to rival Disney – covering land equivalent to 136 Wembley Stadiums – have been in the works since 2014, and a planning application hearing was due to start today.
But the London Resort company announced it is withdrawing its current application for the park on the Swanscombe peninsula on the Thames in North Kent – an area that was designated a ‘site of special scientific interest’ (SSSI) last year because of its exceptional range of wildlife.
Plans to build a £3.5 billion theme park in the UK to rival Disneyland were today dropped after a series of delays caused by green activists and a planning battle with furious locals
Why do you still breastfeed? Even beyond the suffering violence inflicted on animals and their infants, humans drinking the breastmilk of another species, beyond infancy and with teeth, is bizarre at best, disturbing in general. Does the violent irony of human infants being unable to drink cow’s milk ever hit you?
Feel free to milk humans who can produce breastmilk, that would at least be species specific and eliminate the disturbing nature of breastfeeding from other species and the required violence, reproductive exploitation, separation of mother and children, and violent death, including the downed cows who are so debilitated, diseased, and abused, they need to be moved by machinery, like bulldozers.
Profit and greed are not acceptable reasons; I don’t smoke to sustain tobacco farmers any more than I consume dairy to sustain animal farmers: they both result in suffering and death.
And don’t give me your regenerative nonsense, animal farmers make it sound as if animal exploitation is required to be environmentally responsible, and that animal suffering, violation, and death is just an unfortunate consequence of being “environmentally responsible”. Like, what would people do without the feces, bacteria, rot, gore, disease, pus, blood, decomp, and marrow, not to mention the suffering and violence, if they decided to NOT be “environmentally responsible”? — insert confused, bewildered emojis demonstrating utter clownish, ridiculous behaviour —
For too long, mother cows and their babies have suffered at the hands of an industry which views them as little more than production units or waste products. Many people don’t realise that cows must give birth in order to produce milk, and one of the dairy industry’s darkest secrets is what happens to those newborn calves.
The dairy industry
In 2021, nearly 5 million cows were farmed for their milk in New Zealand, over 4.5 million of whom gave birth to calves who were taken away within days of being born. The milk which would normally nourish and sustain their calves is instead taken to be consumed by humans. Female calves are raised by humans to one day replace their mothers in the milking shed, while male calves are often killed within a few days of being born, considered ‘waste products’ of the dairy industry.
Mother cows are not machines
Like humans, a mother cow will carry her pregnancy for nine months. She will love, nurture, nurse, and protect her calf until the day comes when her calf is no longer a baby, but a young adult who is old enough to care for themselves and begin a life of their own. Sadly, this otherwise unbreakable mother-child bond means nothing to the dairy industry.
Every year in Aotearoa, millions of mother cows helplessly watch as their newborns are taken away from them so that their breast milk can be harvested for human consumption.
This cycle of abuse only ends for mother cows when they are no longer able to pump enough breast milk to be profitable to the dairy industry. After 5-6 years of being impregnated, giving birth and being milked, mother cows will be sent to slaughter.
Male calves are not ‘waste products’
Around 2 million male calves, also known as ‘bobby calves’, are taken from their mothers and killed shortly after birth every year in Aotearoa. Because bobby calves are male and can’t be used for milking, the industry has no economic incentive to raise them. Male calves are deemed useless byproducts of the dairy industry, rather than the sentient individuals they are.
Some will be sent to slaughter four days after being born while others will be shot on the farm within just 24 hours of life, all so the dairy industry can take the milk that was meant for him to sell for human consumption.
Dairy is destroying our environment
Animals aren’t the only casualties of the dairy industry. The pollution caused by industrial dairy farming is severely impacting our environment. The dairy industry is New Zealand biggest climate polluter, generating more greenhouse gas emissions than the entire transport sector. In the last 30 years alone, the industry’s total emissions have risen 132%.
The dairy industry is also the largest source of water pollution and a major stressor on biodiversity and soil health. Run-off from dairy farms and synthetic fertiliser is poisoning our rivers, lakes and even our drinking water. As a result, 82% of waterways in farming areas are unfit for swimming and up to 800,000 kiwis may be at a greater risk of bowel cancer due to nitrates in water.
Dairy and your health
There is a growing body of evidence that links dairy consumption to many chronic diseases including diabetes, obesity, and cancer. According to Dr Neil Barnard of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, taking dairy off your plate can significantly reduce your risk of heart disease and diabetes and cut the chances of being diagnosed with certain cancers by more than 70%.
Mammals produce breastmilk to feed their infants until they are weaned onto solids. Humans are the only animals that consume milk from another lactating species throughout their lifetime. After infancy, most of us lose the ability to produce the enzymes that break down lactose, which explains why so many people experience bloating, discomfort and an upset stomach after consuming dairy.
Calcium, protein and iron are abundant in plants. It’s easy to nourish your body with plants once you know how!
It’s only a matter of time before Aotearoa can no longer sustain the continuous water pollution, soil damage and high greenhouse gas emissions the dairy industry creates. To protect the animals, our environment and our health; Aotearoa must embrace a future where its primary industries do not rely on the exploitation of our precious land and our animals for profit.
Our farmers are facing massive amounts of debt, increasing public scrutiny and a lack of industry leadership. Animal-free alternatives are shown to require up to 99% less water, produce 97% less greenhouse gas emissions, and requires no animal exploitation.
Governments around the world are recognising the harm dairy creates and are setting plans in place to assist farmers in transitioning away from animal agriculture. Now is the time for Kiwis to hold the New Zealand Government to account for failing to do the same. Our future depends on it.
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On Monday 28 March, Eurogroup for Animals, jointly with 16 animal protection organisations, filed a complaint with the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Surveillance Authority regarding blood farms in Iceland, as they are in breach of laws applying in the European Economic Area (EEA).
In November 2021, an investigation led by Animal Welfare Foundation and Tierschutzbund Zürich revealed the cruel conditions on Icelandic blood farms. There, blood is collected from pregnant mares in order to retrieve the pregnant mare serum gonadotropin (PMSG) hormone, also called equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG), which is used in industrial animal breeding to increase the reproductive performance of farmed animals.
On Icelandic blood farms, the semi-wild horses are subjected to violence, risk numerous injuries, and suffer from repeated trauma. The amount of blood taken – five litres per week – exceeds any international guidelines existing on the topic.
Following these findings, Eurogroup for Animals has decided, jointly with 16 animal protection organisations, among which several are based in Iceland, to file an official complaint with the EFTA Surveillance Authority, arguing that Iceland does not properly apply its legislation on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, which is derived from the EU Directive on the same topic. Indeed, Iceland, as a member of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), must follow the rules of the European Economic Area (EEA), most of which are aligned with EU rules.
The argument laid down by the complaint is that blood collection for the production of PMSG should not be approved by the Icelandic authorities as it does not respect the principle of the 3 Rs (replacement, reduction and refinement) on which is based the relevant EU Directive, and thus the Icelandic law, on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. Indeed, according to this principle, animal experiments must, whenever possible, be replaced by alternative methods not relying on live animals.
In the case of PMSG, these alternatives exist as a number of authorised synthetic medicinal products are available on the pharmaceutical market. Achieving good reproductive results is also possible with informed management techniques and hormone-free methods, as adopted in organic farming. The Swiss pig breeders association even stated that they will voluntarily stop using PMSG, proving that this transition is feasible.
Icelandic authorities argue that they do not see blood collection for PMSG production as an animal experiment – and therefore that this activity does not fall under this legislation and does not require any authorisation. Yet, EU authorities, as well as the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE), have said the contrary at numerous occasions. Indeed, procedures using animals for the manufacture of drugs are classified as animal experiments.
The EU is the main destination for Icelandic PMSG and the hormone, in addition to being produced in cruel conditions, only further supports an intensive and unsustainable model of livestock farming, which goes against the goals listed in the European Green Deal, and more specifically the “Farm to Fork Strategy”. This complaint is thus crucial, alongside our call for the EU to ban production and imports of this hormone.
World Animals Voice 