Sir David Attenborough has seemingly thrown his support behind the suspension of beach management at a Wirral beauty spot.
The raking and the spraying of glyphosate - a low toxicity weed killer - to manage the growth of vegetation at Hoylake was stopped in August 2019 to allow the natural grasses, plants and wildlife to come back.
The decision, taken by Wirral Council's Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee, has been controversial among some residents and local councillors who claim the area depends on their “golden sands” for tourism.
But now one of the UK’s most respected climate campaigners has sent a handwritten letter, seen by the ECHO, in response to the Environment, Climate Emergency and Transport Committee chair, Cllr Liz Grey.
She wrote to the 94-year-old documentary maker explaining the efforts that had been made to improve biodiversity in Hoylake and elsewhere in the borough.
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In response, Sir David wrote: “Thank you for all you are doing to help the natural world.”
Cllr Grey said she was over the moon to receive such a personal reply, she said: “Sir David Attenborough is a hero of young and old alike. He has been behind some of the greatest wildlife programming ever made and improved millions of people’s understating of the natural world.
“He has influenced world leaders’ approach to climate change and the threat it poses to life on this planet.
“For him to endorse the efforts we have been making not only to protect our local environment but to make it a more diverse eco-system in which wildlife can thrive is fantastic, and for me validates what we have been trying to achieve.
"He’s the most respected voice in the world on these issues, and to have his support for our efforts is both inspiring and humbling.”
Sir David Attenborough is no stranger to Wirral having paid a visit to the peninsula in September 2019 to speak at the naming ceremony for the £200m polar research ship christened in his honor.
The enormous red vessel was formally named by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead and it set sail from the shipyard last October after a mammoth four-year construction.
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