Broadwater Lake Objections to Planning Application

Hillingdon Council has received 1200 comments in objection to the planning application to develop a new Watersports Facility and Activity Centre at Broadwater Lake SSSI.  

Objections were also made by Natural England and the Environment Agency - these are particularly important as they are statutory consultees. 

Here's a summary of the concerns they raised.

Natural England

Natural England consider the development will: 

• damage or destroy the interest features for which Mid Colne Valley Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) has been notified. 

Their main concerns are: 

• Direct loss of Mid Colne Valley SSSI – loss of open water at Broadwater Lake 

• Direct loss of suitable habitat for interest features (non-breeding and breeding birds) as a result of land reclamation and peninsula works 

• Disturbance (visual, noise) to both non-breeding and breeding birds throughout the construction phase 

• Concerns that the proposed mitigation is not suitable for the interest features 

• Disturbance (visual, noise) to breeding birds throughout the continued operational phase of the development due to the intensification of recreational activity at Broadwater Lake of both water and land-based activities over the breeding season 

• Uncertainties surrounding all year-round activities at Broadwater Lake which would impact over-wintering birds. 

Environment Agency

Objection 1: Inadequate flood risk assessment 

Objection 2: More detailed consideration on the control of pollution is required, and parallel tracking is recommended. 

Objection 3: Activity could cause unacceptable impacts to waterbodies in the River Basin Management Plan 

Objection 4: Presence of legally protected species and/or priority species (principally those for which we have a lead role in protecting) and no/inadequate evidence that the risks have been assessed and addressed satisfactorily. 

You can also read our response to the planning application here.