LEADING wildlife watchdog English Nature has slammed major plans for a huge new deep-sea dock on the edge of the New Forest which would "finish" vital habitats for thousands of birds.
The government's main conservation body English Nature poured scorn over claims by Southampton Docks operator Associated British Ports that the proposed new container terminal at Dibden Bay would not harm birdlife.
On day 44 of the public inquiry into the scheme yesterday, English Nature barrister Graham Machin said: "If you were to obliterate the foreshore of Dibden Bay you couldn't say the natural habitat would remain. It would be finished and would clearly not remain in a stable condition."
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