My family have lived in Ely for the past 20 years and I was horrified to read of the marina development plans for Roswell Lakes. These lakes are a haven for wildlife in what is becoming an increasingly developed and urban landscape with major road buildin

My family have lived in Ely for the past 20 years and I was horrified to read of the marina development plans for Roswell Lakes.

These lakes are a haven for wildlife in what is becoming an increasingly developed and urban landscape with major road building and thousands of new houses being built (the fastest growing housing expansion in Europe). I am not a wildlife expert but know the lakes represent a home for a vast array of wildlife - herons, muntjac deer, barn owls, kingfishers, reed nesting birds, terns as well as many different types of water animals.

The margins in particular with the tree cover they (used to) afford are extremely valuable for cover and nesting as well as the fact there is no motorised boat traffic to disturb the entrance to the lakes from the River Great Ouse in the middle of which is an island used for nesting by water birds and large areas of water lily pads housing aquatic populations. As you know, the Fens are not renowned for tree cover so the wooded margins around the lakes are extremely valuable, yet it is this which is being severely damaged at present. A "road" has already been bulldozed virtually right round the lakes, destroying most of the trees. While those that remain have had their roots sliced through by a very deep and wide trench.

What this priceless haven of beauty needs is proper protection from the hands of greedy developers who have no interest other than making money by ruining the areas for wildlife and countryside lovers alike. I pray that someone will take action to stop this development before it is too late. The thought of a flotilla of motorised boats coming in and out of the lakes with all the infrastructural development, noise, oil pollution, sewage and waste problems etc would be a crime!

I would urge your readers to write to the local Council, their MP and to the Cambridge Wildlife Trust.

John Dadson

Abbot Thurston Ave

Ely