RSPB fears Mersey tidal barrage could destroy wildlife at Halton

Mar 10 2010 by Adrian Short, Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News

RSPB

A TIDAL barrage across the Mersey could destroy wildlife and cause flooding at Halton, according to the RSPB.

Yet there is a chance that one could be built on the estuary within the next 10 years, despite warnings from conservationists.

The group fears one could be built after a report from The Mersey Tidal Power project, led by developers Peel Energy and the Northwest Regional Development Agency, revealed it is considering a barrage in a shortlist of four options to generate tidal energy on the river. If a tidal barrage is chosen, it could be operational by 2020 potentially causing irreversible damage to the estuary.

Peter Robertson, the RSPB’s conservation manager for Northern England, said: “I am extremely concerned that a tidal barrage is still being seriously considered on the Mersey. The RSPB supports clean renewable energy schemes but only if they do not pose a significant threat to the environment.

“Old-fashioned methods of generating tidal power – in particular tidal barrages -– carry huge risks to sensitive environments such as the Mersey Estuary.”

The RSPB claims an official Dutch report, which outlines the effects of a storm surge barrier built across the Oosterschelde estuary in the 1980s, found the barrier led to the loss of mudflats, leading to higher waves and water levels and reducing feeding grounds for birds, which is likely to lead to large reductions in their populations.

The report also suggests that shipping channels will become shallower and harder to navigate.

Tidal energy schemes on the Mersey are nothing new. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were plans to construct a large barrage but the proposal collapsed amid spiralling costs, mounting local opposition and clear predictions that the natural environment would be seriously damaged.

Peter Robertson continued: “Rather than waste taxpayers’ money on feasibility schemes based around old-fashioned tidal energy methods that wreck the environment, this money should be invested in emerging technologies that have a minimal impact on wildlife and precious habitats.”

The Mersey Estuary is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA).

The estuary supports almost 86,000 waterbirds annually. and boasts internationally important numbers of shelducks, teals, dunlins, black-tailed godwits and redshanks.