Tidal barrier idea angers wildlife groups

An oystercatcher eating a mussel
An oystercatcher eating a mussel. Photograph: Roger Tidman/Corbis

An entrepreneur has launched a plan to protect large swaths of Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire from flooding with an 11-mile tidal barrier across the mouth of the Wash which would protect the coastline and generate electricity from tidal currents. But conservationists reacted angrily to the scheme yesterday, saying that it would cause "considerable damage" to an internationally recognised conservation site.

"The Wash is, in strictly numerical terms, our most important estuary for wild birds, a world-class wildlife site," said André Farrar, spokesman for the RSPB. "We don't believe the seriousness of the impact has even begun to be considered." Dr Peter Dawe, a dotcom millionaire who started up the UK's first internet service provider, Pipex, believes his scheme can be funded from private sources.

"My motivation is to protect everything south of the Wash all the way to Cambridge," he said. "I don't believe that doing nothing is an option." He cites the close shave the region experienced in November last year when forecasters predicted that a storm surge would rise above sea defences. "Luckily the storm surge was 30cm lower than the forecast. If it had been less kind we would have had a catastrophic flood."

His plan has won cautious backing from the Conservative MP for North East Cambridgeshire, Malcolm Moss, who said it had "tremendous potential". Dawe believes that the £2bn-£3bn cost of building the barrage would be recouped over its lifetime by selling the electricity it generates - the equivalent of a large nuclear power station.

Conservationists say he has not properly considered the impact on wildlife. During winter, the Wash is host to more than 350,000 wading birds and wildfowl of 16 significant species, including oystercatcher and curlew. Caroline Steel, assistant director of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, said: "It's going to alter the entire nature of the area. Any changes are very unlikely to bring about benefits."