The Portencross Coast Special Site of Special Scientific interest (SSSI) has nationally important eelgrass beds and the best intertidal mudflats for feeding wildfowl and waders on the Ayrshire coast. The site is also important for other notable wildlife including otter, the nationally scarce plant – seaside centaury and a type of cuckoo bee, which is rare in Scotland.

If North Ayrshire Council gives the green light to the proposed Local Development Plan as it stands, nearly three quarters of the Portencross Coast SSSI will be lost forever.  As the Council has said it cannot recreate the habitat elsewhere, extra pressure will be put on the birds that presently rely on the intertidal mudflats as they will have to search further afield for a suitable replacement site.

The Scottish Wildlife Trust has submitted an objection to North Ayrshire Council’s proposed Local Development Plan and has contacted all of its North Ayrshire members urging them to put pressure on the Council by objecting to the plan.

Dr Maggie Keegan, National Planning Co-ordinator, Scottish Wildlife Trust said: “The Scottish Wildlife Trust is appalled by the general lack of protection for North Ayrshire’s wildlife in the proposed plan. Although the plan’s vision is to achieve ‘A better life’ for the people of North Ayrshire, we cannot see how this can possibly be achieved without safeguarding the natural environment too. By giving the green light to Hunterston, North Ayrshire Council will sound the death knell for a nationally important wildlife site and, as this unique habitat is impossible to recreate elsewhere, the Scottish Wildlife Trust strongly opposes this plan.

If you require further information about North Ayrshire Council’s Local Development please contact Dr. Maggie Keegan at Scottish Wildlife Trust headquarters on 0131 312 7765.