Dover Harbour Board has been requested by the MMO to undertake magnetometer surveys and submit the results for a further public consultation.

This is obviously good news as it shows the campaign is making an impact. However, a magnetometer will only detect ferrous (iron) items, such as cannons or steam ships. It’s no good for finding aircraft parts (aluminium), human remains, palaeolithic archaeology, bronze age boats or Elizabethan sailing ships … a point we will obviously be making to the MMO.

The Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom’s office has acknowledged our request for an investigation into why the dredging licence issued in 1976, for ‘one project only’, was then repeated four times.
So, its onwards and upwards for 2017 – We hope you all have a very happy Christmas and thank you so much for your support over the past months. We couldn’t have got this far without you!

You may not have heard from us recently but our efforts to stop the proposed dredging still continue apace.   Last month, the MMO held a meeting with the Ministry of Defence, Dover Harbour Board and their consultants to try to address the MoD’s continued concerns with regard to the Protection of Military Remains Act.

Goodwin Sands SOS was not invited to the meeting as we are not considered primary advisors and we are still awaiting the publication of the Minutes on the public register.   At our insistence however, the MMO are hosting another meeting in January with members of the Joint Nautical Archaeological Policy Committee so they can address their own concerns at first hand to the MMO.

In the meantime, research by GWS SOS has unearthed newspaper articles reporting that the first dredging licence issued in 1976 was ‘for one project only’ and would not be ‘the thin end of the wedge for the further taking of sand’.  GWS SOS are taking the Rt Hon Andrea Leadsom MP to task over this and have called for an investigation into why four further dredging licences were issued. An acknowledgement to this request has been received.

We would like to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and thank you so much for your continued support. We will continue the fight in 2017 and do please remember that the petition is still alive and kicking and waiting to be signed!

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/goodwin-sands-sos-stop-the-dredge