Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, recently spent a Friday morning witnessing progress on the massive project to turn Wallasea Island, in his constituency, into one of the largest bird sanctuaries in Europe.
The multi million pound project, which is being funded by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), involves moving over 4 million tonnes of soil from the Crossrail tunnelling project in London and bringing it by sea to the River Crouch, where it is unloaded and then used to build seawalls and walkways across Wallasea Island, which will eventually provide a wetland habitat for tens of thousands of birds.
Mark, who has been following this project for several years, visited as a guest of the RSPB and was shown one of the transport ships, which can carry 2000 tonnes of soil at one time, unloading its cargo onto an 800ft conveyor belt, which then transfers the soil across to the island before it is then moved by giant dumper trucks to form the new sea walls and walkways.
Of the more than 4 million tonnes required, some 1.7 million tonnes have already been delivered to the island, which will eventually be subdivided into a number of lagoons, which has already begun to take on its new shape.
When this project is completed in several years time, it is likely to be a significant tourist attraction - particularly for keen bird watchers - and will bring economic benefits to the Rochford District, as well as providing one of the largest bird sanctuaries in the whole of Europe.
Commenting on the project, Mark Francois said:
“As a member of the RSPB myself, I was pleased to see this massive project in action. The sheer scale of it is really impressive and it is wonderful to think that such an exciting environmental programme, with major benefits for local birdlife, is being taken forward in my constituency. The RSPB hope to open Wallasea Island gradually, as the project progresses, with the first visitors arriving in late 2015 or early 2016. I think this will be a great asset to the area and indeed to Essex generally and I look forward to seeing this very exciting project come to fruition in the next few years.”