Defending The Wash

The future of The Wash and its wildlife is at risk because of a proposal to build a 12km long concrete barrage across the mouth of the estuary to accommodate a deep-water port and tidal power generation. It also claims to provide flood defence benefits.

The Wash is one of the most important and dynamic wetlands for wildlife in Europe. The Wash is also important for the local economy, its heritage and landscape character. The seclusion and beauty of The Wash bring pleasure to many and the benefits of the natural world for health and wellbeing are well recognised.

The Wash also provides a multitude of services such as natural flood management, carbon storage and nurseries for spawning fish. Ensuring these services are maintained and enhanced will be crucial in not just helping tackle the nature and climate crises, but also supporting economic growth and thriving communities. Whilst details on the proposal remain limited, the fact that this proposal is being promoted is of serious concern given the severe damage that could occur to the estuary if it were constructed.

We believe irreplaceable habitats, such as the vast intertidal mudflats, the dunes at Holme and Gibraltar Point and extensive saltmarshes will be lost or damaged if this project goes ahead.

The Wash is internationally important and truly one of the UK’s last great wildernesses. It is the largest estuarine system in the UK, measuring around 62,000 ha (620 km2) and is the most important estuary for birds in the UK.

Over half of The Wash is permanently under water, with the remaining areas made up of intertidal mud and sand, saltmarsh and other habitats including small areas of sand dunes, vegetated shingle, and coastal lagoons. All these habitats provide food, shelter and rest areas for invertebrates, birds, and mammals, as well as providing many social, economic, and commercial benefits to local communities.

We are concerned that the way The Wash is connected to both the North Sea and inland river systems means that a barrage enclosing the whole estuary may increase two types of flooding:

• Tidal flooding could occur in some areas through displacement of seawater, which could push more water onto adjacent coasts. This could also increase the erosion of natural flood defences.
• River flooding could increase due to the barrage impeding the flow from the five rivers that feed into the estuary: the Great Ouse, the Welland, the Nene, the Witham, and the Steeping

A barrage will inevitably restrict water flow into the Wash resulting in loss of sediment supply leading to erosion of intertidal areas, as has been seen in other barrage schemes elsewhere in the world. This will result in loss of the vast intertidal area on which the shellfish rely, which provide for both birds and people, as well as the loss of carbon storage in the sediment.

Water quality in The Wash could also be severely impacted by the nutrients and sediment that would be trapped behind the barrage. This would present a very real risk of the estuary becoming a “green, fetid lake.”

Ultimately all these changes would alter and degrade the internationally important habitats of The Wash and seriously damage the wildlife of this internationally important site.

As well as wildlife, The Wash is important for its heritage and landscape character; people have lived and worked on it for centuries. It supports a thriving fishery (primarily Cockles, Mussels, and Brown Shrimp), the busy ports of Boston and King’s Lynn and maintains the fertile soils of the surrounding farmland.

In addition, the seclusion and beauty of The Wash brings pleasure to many and the benefits of the natural world for health and wellbeing are well recognised. We believe a barrage would likely negatively impact on all of these.

We are deeply sceptical that a shore‐to-shore barrage can be delivered without serious damage to The Wash, its wildlife and heritage, and the tourism, recreational and commercial activity that this supports. Experience from other barrage projects also suggests such a proposal is likely to have unacceptable costs to the public.

We are in a climate and nature emergency – these two issues are inextricably linked. Climate change is one of the greatest threats to nature and people – we are seeing more extreme weather, destruction of habitats, and volatile food availability as temperatures change. Whilst we recognise the need for projects that reduce carbon emissions and manage future flood risk these must be done in a way that enhances the environment and has positive social impacts.

The Wash barrage scheme claims to ‘provide guardianship of the ecology of The Wash,’ but the reality of the possible impacts would likely result in serious damage to The Wash protected sites and their important habitats and species. This would be at odds with targets set out in the UK government’s 25-year Environment Plan.

To date Centre Port have excluded the RSPB and other environmental organisations from their briefings. As landowners of nature reserves around The Wash, our sites, such as RSPB Frampton Marsh, Freiston Shore and Snettisham, will be impacted by the proposal. It is therefore inappropriate to exclude us as a stakeholder.

We consider sufficient evidence exists to demonstrate a barrage is inappropriate on The Wash and any proposed investment would be better invested on less environmentally damaging developments.

Though we think it is unlikely the risks of the project can be mitigated, if the project progresses, we expect that the developer should engage constructively with environmental NGOs to try and minimise harm to nature.

3rd November 2023 – Panel event at Hunstanton with the developer; with no new information presented.

7th May 2023 – Panel event at the Wells Maltings with the developer.

23rd February 2023 – BBC Radio 4 interview with the RSPB. We were invited to briefly respond to the developer’s claims following response from listeners to the 22nd of February interview with the developer.

22nd February 2023 – BBC Radio 4 interview with developer.

Nov 2022 – Developer held launch event at the House of Commons.

Redshanks – both breeding and non-breeding. Saltmarsh-breeding birds have declined and are a serious concern. Fifth most important site in the UK for wintering birds (5,329 5yr average; 7.5% of the GB population)

Oystercatchers – Fourth most important estuary in the UK for wintering numbers (23,097 latest 5yr mean; 11% GB pop). The species is recovering on The Wash and is vulnerable to cold weather and poor food supply, as demonstrated by a significant mortality event in winter 2022/23. Breeding numbers are struggling.

Bar-tailed godwits – most important site in the UK for non-breeding birds (16,533 latest 5 yr. mean; 57% GB pop)

Curlew – second most important site in the UK for non-breeding birds (5,759 latest 5 yr. mean; 9.5% of the GB population)

Knot – most important site in the UK for non-breeding birds (209,300 latest 5yr mean; 83% of the GB population)