Monday, April 07, 2008

We'll fight for the Broads, pledges council

Norfolk County Council today pledged it would fight for Government funding to protect the Broads from flooding.

Natural England and the Broads Authority have discussed plans to abandon coastal defences and allow the Upper Thurne and its legendary pike fisheries to be flooded by the sea.

The move would mean the end for Horsey Mere, Hickling Broad, Heigham Sound and the Martham broads - along with six coastal villages, internationally-important nature reserves and thousands of hectares of farmland.

Nearly 700 people have signed an online petition launched by the Pike Anglers Club, on Gordon Brown's 10 Downing Street website, to save the Broads. Click here to join them.

Today Ian Monson, Norfolk County Council's cabinet member for the environment, said the authority would press the case that the land is worth defending on social, economic and environmental grounds. Click here for more.