Severn Barrage: Consultation Deadline & Online Petition - SIGN IT NOW!

The deadline for the Severn Barrage proposal initial consultation is Thursday 23rd April 2009 - i.e. THERE'S NO TIME TO LOSE although there will be further consultations, probably in 2010 but they might have made their minds up already by then!

The consultation document is long and difficult to complete, especially if running up against any of the technical problems we encountered today.

Whether or not you have half an hour or more to spare to complete the initial consultation document, please SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION HERE NOW.

The Severn short list includes a number of barrage options but very few alternatives, and this list should be expanded to include innovative schemes such as 3rd Generation Tidal Turbines which are economically and environmentally sustainable - unlike barrages!

Supporters of Save Our Severn and Stop The Barrage Now include:
the RSPB,
the Salmon and Trout Association,
the Severn Rivers Trust,
the Bristol Port Company,
the Gloucester Harbour Trustees,
and the Wye and Usk Foundation,

- all of whom recognise the unacceptable costs to the environment and the economy that will be caused by barraging the River Severn.

Save Our Severn have also published a recent report by Dr. Graham Daborn, Acadia University Centre for Estuarine research in Nova Scotia, in which just one of the problems that barraging a silty estaury like the Severn would cause as new silt modelling methods are helping us to appreciate 'just how fast mud is deposited. A Severn barrage could lead to the beaches of Wales and the South West being plastered with a living slime of mud... [and] Dr Daborn gives three examples in Canada where [out-of-date modelling] has lead to barrages being constructed resulting in massive sediment deposits choking the river, leading to flooding and blocking harbours and destroying fisheries.'
See Save Our Severn and you can read extracts from Dr. Daborn's report here.

Please sign the online petition opposing the Severn Barrage TODAY, whether or not you have time to trawl through the substantial consultation document.

Also, there will be a Ribblesiders Bluebells and Birdsong Walk coming up very soon, so watch this space!

You can contact us at savetheribble@tiscali.co.uk