Chester Zoo has voiced strong opposition to plans for an underground 'green' pipeline that would cut through its conservation land, with the chief executive calling the proposal 'unacceptable'.
World-renowned Chester Zoo manages 470 acres (about 190 hectares) of land just outside its main site, which form part of a regional conservation and habitat recovery programme. The proposed Peak Cluster Project involves a pipeline running through the North West to capture carbon emitted by cement and lime factories in the Peak District, transporting those emissions to the Wirral coastline.
Pipeline Route Under Fire
From the Wirral, the gas would be compressed and stored within a former gas reservoir deep under the Irish Sea, off the coast of Morecambe in Lancashire, where the emissions would not be able to damage the environment. However, Chester Zoo chief executive James Christon warned that the pipeline's current route 'would rip through our fields and jeopardise environmentally sensitive habitats'.
Mr Christon said Chester Zoo bosses first wrote to Peak Cluster in March voicing their concerns about the route and met with project bosses in May to ask them to relook at the proposal. Since then, he claims he has had no contact with Peak Cluster, leading him to believe there will be no changes made to the proposed route.
Conservation at Risk
Mr Christon added: 'We recognise development can be necessary and welcome progress on low-carbon infrastructure. However, we're against bad development that would damage the irreplaceable habitats and ecosystems we're all working so hard to protect. Once it's gone, it's gone forever.'
He stressed he wanted to see a route forward that worked for 'people and nature alike', remarking: 'The decarbonising industry should not come at the expense of nature. We believe the regional environmental impacts of the Peak Cluster pipeline, as proposed, are unacceptable. We're calling on Peak Cluster to come to the table and engage with us, with our neighbours on the Wirral, and with others working to protect wildlife across the region. This land is massively rich in biodiversity. When nature's lost it is lost and you can't just rebuild it again.'
Developer's Response
Peak Cluster chief executive David Parkin said the firm remained committed to working with the zoo which included 'irreplaceable wetland habitats that support wildlife and store carbon'. He added Peak Cluster had explained their project design process to Chester Zoo and discussed options with them, agreeing to provide updates as the work progressed.
'We remain committed to working with Chester Zoo to address their concerns as far as possible,' he added. 'Since May, we have remained in contact so that we can undertake ecology surveys on their land. Over recent months, we have reviewed over 5,500 pieces of consultation feedback and undertaken further engineering and environmental assessments. This activity, including the study data from Chester Zoo's land, will inform the project's development and evaluation of potential location options for the pipeline. When we reach the stage of an update on the project, we will ensure stakeholders and the public who took part in the consultation are informed.'
