Given all the recent publicity regarding Spurn I have been in discussion with a few other people and gleaned some thoughts on how all of this energy could be channelled in a more positive direction.
Firstly, there is something big at Spurn. It is special and it is unique in Europe, probably the World. People care dearly about the place and they want to be involved. They want to be a part of it. They feel that they have something positive to contribute for the betterment of this magical place.
Some of those people are experts in their field whether it be birds, biology local history whatever. All of that specialist resource is on the doorstep and surely it could be channelled such that those ‘experts’ could contribute in managing and promoting Spurn.
The biggest problem with Spurn at the moment (in my opinion) is the perception that the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust don’t care about the place.
It is easy to understand why people may think that way, for example;
YWT submitted a planning application for a new visitor centre that had a communications mast right in the middle of a migration flyway.
Then they pursued a Visitor Centre in a very sensitive location, where (arguably) other sites were available.
They admitted themselves that they got their engagement and communication wrong in the lead-up to the last planning submission.
YWT struggled with the implementation of measures to comply with Planning Conditions.
They failed with statutory compliance regarding the sewage discharge.
There has been an apparent increase in dog walkers, motor cycles and people entering sensitive areas.
Thousands of metres of barbed wire remain in place despite assurances it would be removed.
Spurn Bird Observatory Trust has been banned from scientific study of birds (despite the fact they have been there for 70 years).
People have been banned for voicing the concerns on how things are being managed at Spurn.
There is no Management Plan in place (despite this being a specific requirement of Natural England) nor is there a timescale as to when it will be ready.
There is no consent in place for the use of the Unimog. This despite a requirement by Natural England to ensure that works or activities that may be detrimental to features within an SSSI should have a Consent Agreement. Only yesterday the Unimog went over the breach at high tide because (apparently) the YWT were hosting a Ghost Walk at the point.
Well Field remains full of builder’s rubble when it should have been developed and enhanced as mitigation for the land used by the New Visitor centre.
Quite frankly there is no wonder people are cheesed off with the YWT. The perception that the YWT don’t care about Spurn is reinforced by the points I have made above.
From a YWT perspective, they have a flagship reserve, a brand new building and they have a team of decent people down there who want to make it work and who care passionately about wildlife conservation.
At some point in time no doubt a line has to be drawn, let's suppose that the YWT have a change of heart.
So what needs to be done?
How about a plan for Spurn that (as a starter for 10) could pull together all the complex issues that are associated with such a magical place?