Green campaigner backs lakes

4:44pm Tuesday 12th June 2007

Comments (0)   Have your say »

FRIENDS of the Earth UK director Tony Juniper today added his weight to the campaign to save Radley Lakes.

The old gravel pits, under threat from RWE npower's plans to dump thousands of tons of spent fuel ash from Didcot power station into Thrupp Lake, were a childhood haunt for Mr Juniper when he lived in Cowley during the 1970s.

Mr Juniper, who spent three hours visiting the site yesterday with members of the Save Radley Lakes group, is supporting the campaign to register the lakes as a Village Green, which would protect them from development.

The inquiry into the application resumes next Wednesday at Radley College.

Mr Juniper said RWE npower should find more responsible ways of dealing with its waste. He said: "Filling these lakes with ash is lazy and is an outdated practice. They would not be able to do this in Germany where they are based, so why do they think they can do it here?"

"It makes me angry that the waste of energy and emissions causing climate change are destroying a place that was of enormous value to me as a boy.

"Radley Lakes were my childhood haunts and I am now haunted by the impending destruction.

"Didcot Power Station will be be shut down in 2015 and unless RWE npower changes tack or the area is registered as a Village Green then destruction of the lakes will be its legacy.

"These lakes are of enormous importance for both local people and wildlife and the company needs to respect that or it will forever be in the environmental hall of shame."