After a long campaign by many environmental organisations including our local Goodwin Sands SOS and the Kent Wildlife Trust the government has announced today that the Sands will become the next Marine Conservation Zone .
This does not immediately stop the dredging of the sands by the Dover Harbour Board and Goodwin Sands SOS have a judicial review of the decision to allow dredging under way. They need more funds for the case, please see their most email below:
Dear Goodwin Sands SOS supporter,
We appreciate that we have only just written to you but we thought you would like to know that the Goodwin Sands have been included in the third and final tranche of Marine Conservation Zones, announced today by DEFRA.
This is excellent news for the Sands in general and a very positive step forward for the campaign, coming as it does just days before the Judicial Review on 5th June. However, unfortunately it does not mean that we have won our case to prevent Dover Harbour Board from dredging.
What it should mean is that the Judge will review all evidence with extra care and attention before arriving at a decision about quashing the licence. This is now a national test case about the robustness of the Blue Belt initiative and its effectiveness in face of the Government’s economic Blue Growth agenda.
Our fund raising appeal stands at just over £2,000 short of our £20,000 target. Please give generously; we need to ensure the Marine Conservation Zone programme is worth the paper it is written on! Donations can be made easily at http://www.goodwinsandssos.org or if you would like us to claim Gift Aid on your donation please email us directly at goodwinsandssos@gmail.com. Please note we cannot claim Gift Aid on CrowdJustice donations.
Many thanks for your continued support.
Full Details at : https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/marine-conservation-zones-goodwin-sands
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