This video has been sent to us by Tom Carney who lives in Deal.  He has used elements of Deal beach in the film and his intention was to capture the mystery of the war grave at sea.

***LATEST NEWS***

Listen and watch out for us in the news on Monday (31st October 2016) from 6:30am! BBC Radio Kent and BBC South East Today are both covering us delivering the campaign petition to Downing Street, which has now reached a massive 11,840 signatures – with an increase of 933 in the past 48 hours!!

And don’t forget to write your second letter of objection before November 16th 2016. It can be as brief as you like, but just write it as every email or letter counts!

Dear Supporters, as a result of the high level of public opposition we have generated through the SOS Campaign, the MMO opened a second pubic consultation phase which ends on the 16th November. This consultation phase is an opportunity for everyone to write/email again to the MMO to express their objection to DHB’s inadequate responses to the questions raised during the first public consultation phase.

We have plans for a final push on the Campaign as the deadline approaches and need to raise some funding to pay for the materials we need to create a high profile impact. Can you please help us by donating a pound or five to help us win this Battle of the Sands and STOP THE DREDGE? We are hoping to raise £200. The precise nature of our plans has to remain confidential at this point, but all will become clear in the near future.

 

16 October 2016

Dear Goodwin Sands SOS Supporter

Progress but no victory yet!

You may have read the recent Mail Online article that gave the false impression that the campaign to stop dredging of the Goodwin Sands has succeeded.  This email is to clarify that, though we have made progress in recent months, the battle has not yet been won.

 

Where do we stand now?

Thanks to this campaign, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) has asked Dover Harbour Board (DHB) to provide detailed information regarding the locations of all military air crash sites in the dredging zone, plus the fate of the crews. This involves excavating six potential crash sites identified in the dredging zone, plus a further eight on the boundary. This would be an expensive and complex operation for DHB, so they appear to be ignoring the MOD’s request.

Thanks to this campaign, a range of serious concerns were raised by national conservation and heritage groups. As a result of a request for further information from the government’s Marine Management Organisation (MMO), DHB has responded to these concerns. We consider their response insufficient, verging on cavalier. There is now a further public consultation period until November 16th to consider DHB’s responses.  They can be read here.

 

What is the next step for our campaign?

On expert advice from Marinet www.marinet.org.uk this campaign is now focussing on protecting the war graves located in the sands, as well as environmental and wildlife concerns. Below, we have condensed essential information relating to the new consultation period and DHB’s latest position. Please use this to inform your further emails/letters of objection to the MMO.

It is vital that we write again to the MMO. We must now strongly object to the dredging proposal in light of:

• DHB’s unsound response to the MMO’s serious concerns
• DHB’s disregard for the MOD’s war grave excavation request

When emailing the MMO, you MUST quote the reference number as before:

Email: Marine.consents@marinemanagement.org.uk

Reference: MLA/2016/00227

 

What next for the petition?

As well as writing to the MMO, we must keep sharing and signing the petition.  We now have 10,800 signatures. Can we get this to 15,000? We believe we can.

Our MP, the Rt Hon Charlie Elphicke is arranging for us to present the petition ourselves to Number 10, Downing Street.  This is an incredible publicity opportunity and makes an impressive signature count all the more important!

If you live nearby, we are holding a Campaign Update Meeting on Saturday 22^nd Oct at 4pm in Deal. Here is a link to the meeting on Facebook. Please do join us if you can.

Finally, thank you so much for your ongoing support and encouragement – together we can STOP THE DREDGE of the Goodwin Sands!

Joanna Thompson (on behalf of the Save our Sands Campaign)

Saturday, 22 October, 4-6pm: there is an URGENT update meeting for the Goodwin Sands SOS campaign.

We are now in a second period of public consultation, ending 16 November. At our meeting on Saturday, we will decide how to best use this time and ways you can be DIRECTLY INVOLVED.

Despite the Mail on Sunday’s article, we have NOT won yet. We are still fighting to stop profit-driven Dover Harbour Board disregarding our heritage, marine life, coastline and war graves.

The Goodwin Sands is an area of naturally formed sandbank some 25 square nautical miles in area lying in the English Channel about 5km off the Kent coast.  At low tide a large area of the sand is exposed and from the shore waves can often be seen crashing on to them.

Dover Harbour Board is applying for a licence to dredge up to 2.5 million cubic metres of

marine aggregate annually from an 11.6 sq km area in the south of the Goodwin Sands.  This amounts to about 13% of the total area of the Sands.    The proposed dredging could be spread out over a 6 year period.

The aggregate is needed for the Dover Western Docks Regeneration project.

Their reasons for doing this are:

• It was done in the past when building the Hoverport, Eastern Docks and Channel Tunnel.
• Marine aggregate is cheaper to purchase from The Crown Estate (who own the seabed) than from a commercial dredging site.
• The carbon footprint of transporting the aggregate from the Goodwin Sands will be less than obtaining it from a commercial site in the Thames Estuary and transporting it to Dover by lorry.

We are petitioning the Maritime Management Organisation (who issue the marine dredging licences) to reject the application on the following grounds:

• The Goodwin Sands are currently a recommended Marine Conservation Zone (rMCZ) and have already been surveyed to become a Designated MCZ by DEFRA. A dredging licence should not even be being considered whilst this recommendation is in progress.
• The last dredging licence for the Channel Tunnel project was issued over 20 years ago. Attitudes and awareness about the environment have changed significantly since then and what was acceptable in 1992 is not in 2016.
• The aggregate could be brought from the Thames Estuary by boat to reduce the carbon footprint, which can also be mitigated in other ways.
• The saving to Dover Harbour Board is estimated at £6.7M; the cost to the environment is limitless.

We need 10,000 signatures to get a response to our campaign from the Government. 

And, we need to act fast!  Dover Harbour Board is applying for the licence in early June; it could be issued in mid July with dredging starting in August this year.