1. Because of the lack of information and understanding about the long-term
effects of continued extraction of sand off the Gower Peninsula, on both
biological and physical grounds, precautionary principles should come into
play. Research must be carried out before any more licences are issued.
These are the reasons why more information is needed

2. The sand in the Bristol Channel is a relict/ancient deposit laid down
after the last Ice Age. It has been sorted and shaped by thousands of
years of wind and wave action creating the beaches and offshore sandbanks
we see today. This process of shaping is ongoing.

3. Recruitment of sand into the system via coastal erosion or down rivers
(fluvial) is minimal. Modern sediments are mainly fine suspended solids
(mud & clays), therefore removal of sand is creating a deficit.

4. The Bristol Channel is one large system and the sand budget (movement of
sand throughout it) is not fully understood.

5. It is currently considered that the onshore (beaches and dunes) and
offshore (sandbanks and sea floor) sand systems are independent of each
other. Significant depletion of one resource could possibly result in
changes in the stability of the other; implications may be far reaching.

6. The long-term effects of continued sand extraction on the benthic
communities (animals that live in the sand), which in turn support the
vertebrates (fish, birds and marine mammals), are not known.

How can the Government address their commitment for a sustainable
environment when allowing the removal of such a finite resource without
fully understanding the long-term implications?

SAND MAIN MENU