Ancient woods and trees will be lost for Lower Thames Crossing

Proposals for a new tunnel linking Essex and Kent under the River Thames have threatened ancient woods and veteran trees since 2016. We've spent years campaigning to show that the proposals are unacceptable. Sadly, the scheme has now been given the go ahead by the Secretary of State for Transport.

We want to thank you for your unwavering support and dedication to helping us protect the precious habitats threatened by this proposal. Regardless of this unfortunate approval, your commitment has been instrumental in raising awareness of the scheme's negative impacts on veteran trees, our own Ashenbank  Wood site, and the scheme's carbon impacts. With your support, we have saved many more hectares of irreplaceable habitat that might have otherwise been lost.

What’s the problem?

Many of the woods threatened by the Lower Thames Crossing form part of the large Shorne and Ashenbank ancient woodland SSSI complex. These woods, including our own Ashenbank Wood, are part of a significant historical landscape, rich in archaeology and cultural importance. They are home to rare wildlife, including woodpeckers, great crested newts and dormice, and are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest. Nationally notable invertebrates also live here, along with over 300 species of fungi.

To make matters worse, National Highways (formerly Highways England) has withheld critical information throughout all its public consultations. It has failed to disclose exactly which environmental features will be affected.

National Highways submitted a new Development Consent Order (DCO) in autumn 2022 - an application to the Planning Inspectorate for approval to undertake a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. But it still hasn't revealed the extent of the appalling damage. This is unacceptable.

We know ancient woodland is going to suffer. Our own assessments indicate 7.2 hectares would be lost. A previous consultation clarified that the scheme would also destroy 6 veteran trees, though their locations remain unclear.

The loss of irreplaceable habitats like these is unacceptable. This is not what progress looks like, for nature or climate.  

A threat to Government’s climate goals

The Government has made welcome commitments to tackle the twin climate and nature crises. They include a pledge by new Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, Rt Hon Ed Miliband MP, to ensure the UK’s international climate leadership is based on achievements at home.

But the Lower Thames Crossing will potentially emit 6.6 million tonnes of carbon over its lifetime - one of the largest carbon footprints of any major road scheme in the UK. It will also destroy ancient woodland which is an important carbon store. Ancient woods make up about 25% of UK woodlands, but they store 36% of woodland carbon. The carbon storing capacity of ancient woodlands takes hundreds of years to develop.

Going ahead with this project is clearly at odds with the UK Government’s domestic climate ambitions. It will also negatively impact our ability to meet fast-approaching and legally-binding environmental targets, which Government is committed to meeting.

Thank you for your support

Over 23,000 of you share our concerns on impacts of this scheme and have joined our five campaigns since 2016. Thank you to all of you. Thanks to objections from our supporters, potential plans for a gas mains pipeline through ancient Ashenbank Wood are now off the table.

What’s next?

We’re not able to challenge this decision in any way, but we have to make sure Government learns from this and does better for ancient woods and veteran trees. This is not what progress looks like, for nature or climate.

Please use our tool to share your views with your MP and urge them to protect irreplaceable habitats from devastation by future infrastructure projects.