Camilla Otaki has started a ‘Save Our Slow Worms’ petition to protect a threatened slow worm habitat in Stanhope Road, Dover.
CommunityAd spoke with Camilla to find out how her petition will protect these graceful and harmless legless lizards.
What prompted you to start this petition?
On 18th June a slow worm came into my garden in Astley Avenue, Dover, from the site at the top of Stanhope Road where a 32-house development is planned. This worried me as I could see that the land was clearly slow worm habitat.
I looked at the Dover Council planning pages and saw numerous objections to the planning application from local residents, logged in 2019 and 2020. Many of these expressed concern about the resident slow worms.
The petition quickly received a flood of signatures; were you surprised by the positive response?
I’m very pleased at the response to my petition but actually it’s not surprising. There is a rising tide of dismay and fury about local authorities’ apparent disregard for the habitats in their care and the creatures that live amongst us. Many people think the priority is development at any cost and there are stories like this from all over the country.
What are your long-term goals with this petition?
The petition is designed to put pressure on the Dover Council planning department to order another ecological appraisal, this time taking into account local people’s sightings of slow worms. There is a very important principle at stake. Reports of a protected species should not be brushed under the carpet, and local people’s concerns should not be ignored.
I hope the council will review the way it does things, and I hope that the fuss and embarrassment generated by the petition and by media exposure will give other councils pause. As for developers and landowners, they need to be held in check by planning authorities, and to understand that it’s in their best interests to prepare for planning applications with integrity and respect for the land they aim to use.