RSPB Rye Meads will close in November and be handed back to Thames Water.⁣
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Ironically, the RSPB recently wrote:⁣
“the science is clear that without these protected sites, the state of nature would be so much worse”⁣. 
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But Rye Meads is more than a protected site on a map.⁣
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It is a place where children first spot kingfishers through binoculars bigger than their heads.⁣
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Where older residents walk familiar paths that have grounded them for years.⁣
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Where families, birdwatchers, photographers, school groups and quiet nature-lovers all share the same landscape.⁣
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It is one of the few places locally where people can experience internationally important wetlands, wildlife and open space freely and accessibly.⁣
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For many disabled visitors, older visitors and those unable to travel further afield, Rye Meads is not simply “somewhere nice to visit”, it is their connection to nature. ⁣
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Rye Meads is an SSSI and an internationally important wetland, it is irreplaceable. And once places like this are lost, they are extraordinarily difficult to get back.⁣
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As the Hoddesdon Society, we will be meeting with Lewis Cocking later this month to discuss the future of this irreplaceable and deeply valued local reserve.⁣
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We are calling on our local community to stand with us in fighting for the future of Rye Meads; for wildlife, for accessibility, for future generations and for everyone who has ever found peace there.⁣