Save Crossness Nature Reserve from industrial development!

DECISION UPDATE - November 2025

Dear Crossness Nature Reserve Supporters,

We are devastated that on 5 November the Secretary of State approved the carbon capture plant to be built by Cory Energy on Crossness Nature Reserve, it was recommended by the government inspectors report and upheld by the government. 

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cory-decarbonisation-project-development-consent-decision-announced

We are looking at the options now and will update everyone in due course. 

It is important we spread the word that this sets a terrible precedent for large-scale industrial development in the name of net zero building on a nature reserve which is part of ancient marshes, a natural carbon sink. 

You can express your displeasure with the Secretary of State’s decision through contacting:

Email: energyinfrastructureplanning@energysecurity.gov.uk
Or write to: Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
3-8 Whitehall Place
London
SW1A 2AW

Electronic copies of the decision documentation, including the Secretary of State’s
decision letter, Habitats Regulations Assessment and the text of the made Order can be
viewed at: https://national-infrastructure-consenting.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/projects/EN010128

Please refer to our website for updates on the campaign - www.savecrossnessnaturereserve.org

About Crossness Nature Reserve and the impact of Cory Energy's plans

Crossness Nature Reserve is a 25.5-hectare reserve, part of the Erith Marshes and is a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. The site has been owned and managed by Thames Water since 1994, but if the scheme is approved Cory could compulsory purchase the land. Friends of Crossness Nature Reserve has over 600 members and many regulars visit its combination of dykes, reedbeds, fields and scrubland, people travel far to enjoy one of the best sites for wildlife in London.

Cory Energy who run the large waste incinerator next to Crossness Nature Reserve are currently constructing a second incinerator complex called Riverside Energy Park on their land immediately to the north of the reserve, with construction until at least 2026. They are now proposing to build a decarbonisation facility, a Carbon Capture Scheme (CCS) on the reserve itself with construction until at least 2030. The CCS seeks to capture carbon dioxide emissions from the waste incinerators, liquify it and then export it to a subterranean reservoir under the North Sea. There are alternative locations adjoining the site such as industrial storage areas nearby but they have chosen the nature reserve land. 

This development threatens waterways where Water Voles (Britain’s fastest declining mammal) live and where one of Britain’s rarest bees, the Shrill Carder Bee, is doing well, it is also where passage migrant birds Wheatear, Stonechat and Whinchat are frequently seen.  The horses there are crucial for this grazing habitat, so building on the established stable paddocks damages the integrity of the marshes. These stables were built with public money, Crossness Nature Reserve also received substantial government funding via the Managing the Marshes project. The new development will also be abutting the West Paddock where there are breeding Lapwing, an overnight winter Dunlin roost, and the very rare Frog Rush plant. 

Cory is being misleading in suggesting they will increase the reserve habitat through mitigation / bio-offsetting. Regarding the claim that an ‘extended’ nature reserve will be provided, the reality is that Cory simply plan to make habitat enhancements to land that already exists for nature – the Peabody-owned Norman Road Field, already in place as mitigation for development impacts on the nearby Veridion Business Park. This area is already a haven for wildlife and does not need the removal of nature reserve land nearby for improvements to be made. A bird would only be experiencing a loss of habitat, not that these adjacent fields are now part of a reserve when they fly there! 

Stop Cory building on Crossness Nature Reserve!

Photo image by Donna Zimmer

Save Crossness Letters of Support: www.savecrossnessnaturereserve.org/copy-of-press

Articles about the threat:

BBC News -Bexley: Carbon capture plant raises concerns about wildlife
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67369677 

Campaign for Rural England London - https://www.cprelondon.org.uk/news/new-threat-to-key-london-nature-reserve/ 

Greenwich Wire 
https://greenwichwire.co.uk/2024/06/06/campaigners-appeal-for-8000-to-fight-plan-to-build-on-crossness-nature-reserve/

My London Bexley
https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-london-news/bexley-locals-furious-plans-build-29298262 

South London Community Matters
https://southlondon.co.uk/news/fundraiser-to-challenge-plans-to-build-carbon-capture-plants-on-crossness-nature-reserve/ 

Bexley News Shopper - https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/green_2009/greennews/bexley/23920689.bexley-furious-plans-carbon-capture-plants-nature-reserve/ 

The 2023 Nature Can't Wait report by the RSPB highlighted habitat loss as one of the five factors of the decline of wildlife in the UK, do not let Cory to contribute to this decline! - https://www.rspb.org.uk/nature-cant-wait