Ellesmere Angling Club boat house plan rejected over fears for wildlife
Plans to create a boat house on a mere have been thrown out after fears were raised about the impact it would have on wildlife and the environment.
Ellesmere Angling Club has had its bid to create the building on the mere, off Crosemere Road in Cockshutt, rejected by council planning officers.
Natural England objected to the scheme after raising fears it would likely "damage or destroy" the interesting features on the site.
Shropshire Council's ecologist also raised concerns that the building will cause direct habitat loss on the site.
But Cockshutt Cum Petton Parish Council raised no objections to the proposal.
The scheme would have involved creating a 7.9-metre wide by 4.8-metre deep building which would have been used to store several boats.
A report on behalf of Shropshire Council case officer Sue Collins said: "The proposed development is appropriate in its design and scale and it would therefore minimise any visual impact on the rural landscape. However, given the objection from Natural England and the council's ecologist, this outweighs the acceptability of the design and scale as it will have a detrimental impact on the ecology of the area."
Grady McLean, of Natural England, said: "There is potential for direct habitat loss or direct effects on the features of interest as a result of building at this location from shading or boat loading etc.
"There is potential for changes to hydrology as a result of the proposed building, yet no details of foundation design etc is provided.
"There is the potential for pollution during construction including sediments and oils from construction vehicles and potential for pollution during operation of the development."No detail is provided as to what kind of boats are to be stored, whether fuels or other chemicals will be stored within the boat house and if they are, what measures are provided to prevent leaks entering the mere.
"Additionally, will there be any boat washing at the site of the result of this proposal? If there is there may be potential for contamination of the mere from polluted water."
A statement by Mark Latham, on behalf of Ellesmere Angling Club, said: "The development proposals will result in the direct habitat loss of 40 square metres of land within the designated site boundary. No significant impact is anticipated to occur to the interest features.
"No rare, uncommon or invasive plant species were documented during surveys."
