ONE of Thurrock’s landmarks, that has served as a beacon for wildlife preservation and care for more than a decade, could soon be shut down.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), which is plagued by financial difficulties, has reviewed its operations and its visitor centre and cafe at Rainham Marshes, adjacent to Purfleet-on-Thames, is set to be a casualty.
The charity has announced that the shop and cafe at the nature reserve will shut for good in January. Complete closure could follow.
Rainham Marshes is a 1,600 acre nature reserve run by the RSPB and its showcase is the visitor centre.
The Thames riverside site is a mixture of former army ranges and landfill sites, bought by the RSPB from the Ministry of Defence in 2000.
Previously it was considered as a possible location for a theme park in the 1990s, though ultimately it lost the entertainment battle with the Paris site that is now Disney-Europe.
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This is dreadful and very shortsighted of the RSPB. Surely they’re looking for new members not driving them away.