London railway construction earth to create nature reserve » Environment » 24dash.com

Earth taken from under London for the construction of Crossrail is to be used to create a huge nature reserve near Southend, the RSPB has announced.

Construction material excavated as part of the new railway line across the capital will be used by the conservation charity to turn 2.5 square miles of farmland into a tidal wildlife habitat in Essex.

Clay, chalk, sand and gravel from the Crossrail scheme will be used to redesign the landscape on Wallasea Island to provide saltmarsh, mudflats and other coastal habitats.

Plans for the coastal nature reserve at Wallasea, eight miles north of Southend-on-Sea, were unveiled last year.

The RSPB hopes the scheme, which aims to replace habitats that are being lost as a result of rising sea levels and development, will attract rare or vanished species such as spoonbills and Kentish plovers.

The deal to use the Crossrail debris was hailed by the charity's chief executive Graham Wynne as "wonderful news for wildlife".

Dr Andre Farrar, the RSPB's protected areas manager, said: "From the outset we recognised that working on Wallasea Island would be technically challenging and would need innovative solutions.

"With most of the land well below high tide level, just letting the sea in would have brought in too much sea water causing problems with navigation and erosion elsewhere in the Crouch and Roach estuaries.

"The use of high quality material is the best way of achieving habitat restoration on these low-lying coasts."

The RSPB will submit a planning application next week to Essex County Council to turn Wallasea Island into natural habitat using the Crossrail material. The council is expected to make a decision in the spring.