Zoo boss calls pipeline plan on site 'unacceptable'

Image caption, Jamie Christon says the planned route for the Peak Cluster pipeline would "rip through" natural habitats

Chester Zoo's chief executive has said plans to build an underground pipeline that will cut through wildlife and habitats on the site are "unacceptable".

The zoo has 470 acres (about 190 hectares) of land just outside its main site, which make up a regional conservation and habitat recovery programme.

Zoo boss James Christon said conservation efforts were under threat from the Peak Cluster Project - a plan for a pipeline through the North West to transport carbon emissions to the coastline. He said the current route "would rip through our fields and jeopardise environmentally sensitive habitats" - including "irreplaceable wetland habitats that support wildlife and store carbon".

Peak Cluster chief executive David Parkin said the firm remained committed to working with the zoo.

Once built, the Peak Cluster underground pipeline would transport harmful carbon dioxide emissions from Derbyshire to the Wirral Coastline

From here, the gas would be compressed and stored within a former gas reservoir deep under the Irish Sea, off the coast of Morecambe in Lancashire, where the emissions would not be able to do any damage to the environment

Image caption, Chester Zoo has 470 acres (about 190 hectares) of land outside of its perimeter - some of which fall under the Peak Cluster proposed route

Christon said Chester Zoo bosses first wrote to Peak Cluster in March voicing their concerns about the route and met with project bosses in May to ask them to relook at the proposal.

Since then, Christon claims he has had no contact with Peak Cluster, leading him to believe there will be no changes made to the proposed route.

"We recognise development can be necessary and welcome progress on low-carbon infrastructure," Christon said.

"However, we're against bad development that would damage the irreplaceable habitats and ecosystems we're all working so hard to protect.

"Once it's gone, it's gone forever."

Christon added he wanted to see a route forward that worked for "people and nature alike".

"The decarbonising industry should not come at the expense of nature," he said.

"We believe the regional environmental impacts of the Peak Cluster pipeline, as proposed, are unacceptable.

"We're calling on Peak Cluster to come to the table and engage with us, with our neighbours on the Wirral, and with others working to protect wildlife across the region."

Image caption, "This land is massively rich in biodiversity," Christon says of the land on the proposed route. "When nature's lost it's lost and you can't just rebuild it again."

Parkin added Peak Cluster had explained their project design process to Chester Zoo - and discussed options with them and agreed to provide updates as the work progressed.

"We remain committed to working with Chester Zoo to address their concerns as far as possible," Parkin said. "Since May, we have remained in contact so that we can undertake ecology surveys on their land.

"Over recent months, we have reviewed over 5,500 pieces of consultation feedback and undertaken further engineering and environmental assessments.

"This activity, including the study data from Chester Zoo's land, will inform the project's development and evaluation of potential location options for the pipeline.

"When we reach the stage of an update on the project, we will ensure stakeholders and the public who took part in the consultation are informed."

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