Plan to fill South Essex quarry could threaten local wildlife
Buckingham Hill Pit in Thurrock is designated as a local wildlife site
Buckingham Hill Pit in Thurrock, a designated local wildlife site, could be filled in, as plans have resurfaced from 2019.
The pit used to be used for sand extraction, and since has become a site with grassland terraces and vertical sand faces that have become a natural habitat.
Quarrying stopped in the 1990s, as the site was previously used to help construction on the M25.
Hundreds of species now call the pit home, including rare invertibrates like the Shrill Carder Bee and the Five-banded Weevil Wasp.
Proposals submitted in 2019 are to be considered by Thurrock Council on the 24th of February.
Jamie Robins, Buglife Programmes Manager, said:
"Over time, what was a scruffy industrial brownfield site, has been completely reclaimed by nature.
"They're things that are just disappearing across the wider landscape, Thurrock in particular. It's somewhere that people don't think of as being this hot spot for wildlife. But from a bug point of view, it's one of the most important parts of the UK.
"But the problem we're seeing is that there's so much development pressure in Thurrock, that wildlife is being squeezed into fewer and fewer spaces.
"We need to be doing everything we can to safeguard these habitats and then create new habitats along the way."
Thurrock Council has been contacted for a response.