Chester Zoo Slams Pipeline Plan Through Conservation Land
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- Chester Zoo chief executive James Christon called the Peak Cluster pipeline plan 'unacceptable,' saying the proposed route would 'rip through our fields and jeopardise environmentally sensitive habitats' across 470 acres of conservation land outside the main site
- Peak Cluster has designed an underground pipeline to transport CO2 emissions from Derbyshire to the Wirral Coastline, where the gas would be compressed and stored in a former gas reservoir under the Irish Sea off Morecambe, Lancashire
- Christon said Chester Zoo first wrote to Peak Cluster in March raising concerns and met with project bosses in May to ask them to reconsider the route, but he claims there has been no contact since
- Peak Cluster chief executive David Parkin pushed back on the no-contact claim, saying the company 'remained in contact' to undertake ecology surveys on the zoo's land and has reviewed over 5,500 pieces of consultation feedback
- Christon warned that 'once it's gone, it's gone forever' and called on Peak Cluster to engage with the zoo, Wirral neighbours and other wildlife groups to find a route 'that worked for people and nature alike'
Why it matters: The standoff crystallises a tension at the heart of UK decarbonisation: carbon-capture infrastructure aimed at fighting climate change may itself damage the biodiversity projects meant to offset it. Peak Cluster's review of 5,500 consultation responses and Chester Zoo's threat of escalating opposition will shape whether the pipeline's route is rerouted or proceeds unchanged.
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