The fight to protect Cheshire’s irreplaceable peatland

‘The peat at Danes Moss is more than five metres deep in places and stores more than 220,000 tonnes of carbon.’ Photograph: Stu/Alamy

I was interested in Peggy Seeger’s letter about the fight to save biodiverse meadows in Oxford’s Iffley village (We must call out the ecocide on our doorstep, 2 March). In Macclesfield we are fighting a similar campaign to stop a supermarket and 950 houses being built on irreplaceable lowland raised bog habitat. The peat at Danes Moss is nearly five metres deep in places and stores more than 220,000 tonnes of CO₂. It is one of the most biodiverse areas in Cheshire, with an abundance of wildlife and many rare species. It is also a much-loved green space in the heart of our community.

It’s a very different habitat to that at Iffley, but the common thread is that it is the local council that is the developer. All over the country, it is often those in authority, who have been entrusted with safeguarding our environment, leading the way in its destruction. What is proposed at Danes Moss is indeed ecocide. Cheshire East council will bear the responsibility for what would be a wanton destruction of nature.
Diana Moss
Macclesfield, Cheshire

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