Reservoir saved - thanks to mushroom October 3, 2005 - icnetwork.co.uk
CAMPAIGNERS CLAIM BIG VICTORY IN BATTLE FOR RESERVOIRS One of Cardiff's best-loved beauty spots is a huge step closer to being saved today - thanks to a humble mushroom.
The discovery of 29 species of waxcap fungi at the Llanishen Reservoir site has led to it being designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
And that could scupper plans by the reservoir's owners, Western Power Distribution (WPD), to build 326 homes on the site - plans the Echo has opposed for the last three years.
Since WPD's proposals were first announced, the Reservoir Action Group has campaigned vigorously against the possibility of the site being turned into a housing estate.
Its members today hailed the Countryside Council of Wales' decision as 'fantastic news'.
'We have known for some time this area is internationally important for grassland fungi,' said Dr Richard Cowie, RAG's environmental spokesman and the man who discovered the mushrooms after years of painstaking work.
'It is great the CCW has recognised this by stepping in to save our local wildlife. WPD must be made to realise the importance of nurturing the very special wildlife for which they now have responsibility. As owners, it is their duty to make sure no harm comes to the site.'
Llanishen Reservoir has been closed to the public since New Year's Day because of what WPD described as the need for inspection work - and Dr Cowie says that decision should now been reversed.
'WPD should again allow the public access to Llanishen Reservoir,' he said. 'All Cardiffians have a right to enjoy this amazing natural heritage on our doorstep.'
RAG believes Llanishen Reservoir should become a country park, and the group's chairman Ted Thurgood, said: 'This is a major step towards defeating WPD's unwanted and intrusive planning application.
'Cardiff needs this open space. We have argued the reservoirs are a much-loved beauty spot, a sanctuary for wildlife and a public recreation area that should be preserved for the enjoyment of the whole community.
'Our proposal for a country park meets exactly that need.'
Cardiff Central AM Jenny Randerson, a fervent supporter of the campaign against WPD's plans, said: "This is phenomenal news.
'It's a major victory and it means the reservoir is very likely to be saved. I would be absolutely amazed if the council or the assembly allowed a planning application that would destroy a SSSI.'
WPD now has four months to make representations about this decision, which the Countryside Council for Wales must consider before deciding whether to confirm, amend or reverse its decision.
The company was unavailable for comment today.
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Hmmm....I would think if its such an important nature habitat, they should keep it closed to the public to protect the rare species, no?
Not that I'm against the decision not to build homes by any means, I'm pretty anti-development myself. But I put the environment before the right of humanity to enjoy a "pretty spot"
-------------------- After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action. If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it. - Ernest Hemingway If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it. In the law courts, in business, in government. There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent. -Cormac MacCarthy He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
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