Land & Water (an environmental company, passionate about caring for The UK's coastline and the nation's network of rivers, streams, wetlands and waterways) gained consent this week, for developing a Habitat Creation Scheme on the River Thames at Rainham Marshes. This will be the largest habitat creation project ever constructed inside the M25.
The project will involve creating a significant area of new wetland habitat from re-engineered spoils, coupled with a strategic investment in riverside infrastructure to support along the Thames Corridor for decades to come.
The scheme will see the importation of over six million tonnes of wet and dry spoil material which will form both the basis of a new landform and cover the site to collect rainwater to fuel the wetlands passively.
The site sits between Veolia's landfill site at Rainham and the RSPB's Rainham reserve. With the new area creating 1,000,000m2 of habitat, more than 5km2 of continuous habitats will be formed, providing East London with an oasis of wildlife owned and managed by the RSPB.
A detailed operations plan has been developed with the RSPB so that areas of the site are operated between migratory bird nesting seasons, with compensation habitats pre-constructed to provide essential refuges.
Jon Cruddas MP said: "Rainham Marshes already boast the largest RSPB site in London, this investment has the potential to greatly increase the existing biodiversity of the area and I am pleased that the Habitat Creation Scheme is going ahead."