BOROUGH campsite owners are fighting a battle to overturn a National Highways campsite order to compulsory purchase the picturesque and popular Thames riverside venue at East Tilbury - ironically to turn it into an environment area in mitigation for the planned Lower Thames Crossing, even though it is already haven for flora and fauna.

Thames View camping sits by the river, close to Coalhouse Farm, and its operator Vince Turner, who runs the site with colleague Karl Osbourne, says it is already a boon to local nature, as well as helping the local economy - and he says there is no need for it to be bought up and 'changed' to something it already is.

He says: "By grabbing our land there would be no mitigation, but rather the opposite.

"Highways would like to use an established green field site for mitigation rather than a brown field site with at least 10 times our size which actually needs mitigation next door.

"Any habitation compensatory methods would negatively impact on the already thriving habitats we have on the land.

"We have areas with protected species already here and find it hard to believe that highways could justify jeopardising their habitat by turning over the ground regularly with a JCB as they described to us as a mitigation for destroying nearby land with a JCB!

"We would welcome the introduction of any suitable species that would need to be moved due to the highway on our campsite on the understanding it would have no negative impact on the wildlife we already have here."

Thamesview Camping, launched in 2021, offers 25 pitches, described in its brochure as 'set amid wildlife and serenity'.

Mr Turner says: "In the last two years alone we have planted over 500 trees, sown over 50kg of meadow seed, installed an owl box which has residents, dredged drainage ditches that are now home to various aqua hydrophytes, water voles, small fish, the occasional Shell ducks and a Heron to name but a few.

"At various times of the year we have an abundance of wildlife visiting our campsite, three different varieties of bees found by ecologists who visited to numerous nesting breeding birds i.e. Woodpeckers, Robins, wren, gold finch, chaffinch, tits. Sand Martins nest in our huge dredge pile, Skylark, Reed Warbler, Marsh Harrier, owls of at least three varieties, red kite, Kestrels etc etc . Adders are also on site but tend to keep to their self in far corners.

"In fact, everything indigenous to our part of the world but not excluding a stork that hung about for a few months. We have implemented various nesting sites and protect nests with necessary measures and controls.

"We regularly, if not daily monitor the land and wildlife. The pitches and pathways are mown into seeded tall grass meadow which hosts an abundance of butterfly and even rare meadow flowers as spotted by ecologists recently. Every year the site is fertilised and cared for. Each pitch is home to a fire pit which is moved periodically to allow the earth to recover. We have been turning patches of grass over to encourage seeding of plants that may not have surfaced for a few or even many years.

"How can anyone possibly claim to mitigate anything by claiming our land?

"Nothing in their plans would better anything we have already done by a long way. Our campsite is and has been enjoyed by thousands of people and wildlife and hopefully we will continue to carry on with the dream.

"We cannot understand why Highways has not claimed the neighbouring brown field site with over a hundred acres next to us that has spent decades as landfill and only stopped trading in December?"

Mr Turner and Mr Osbourne are calling on supporters to lobby National Highways and also call on local MP James McMurdock to back their cause.

Find out more via this link.