The housing project application is said to be for 450 student flats and 378 homes and is to sit alongside the heathlands in Poole. A protest has been lodged to the Poole Borough Council and they along with other Dorset councils have committed to safeguard the heaths from any residential development within 400 metres, under a planning framework.

The RSPB have fears that this huge development will do a lot of damage to the unique wildlife that live on the heath. It is going to cause a huge disturbance and put immense pressure on the heathlands and the inhabitants it supports like the Dartford Warblers and the rare sand lizards. Not only is it going to have an enormous effect on the heathlands and wildlife, this development is only going to add to the already traffic congested Wallisdown Road. 

Talbot heath is not only a protected site, has countless statutory designations being named a UK site of special scientific interest, European special protection area and special area of conservation it is also a wetland site of international importance under the RAMSAR convention.

The RSPB are standing alongside the local residents, Natural England and Dorset Wildlife Trust who are all against these housing plans.

The RYA have come out in defence of the yacht owners, by stating that they are ‘normally very pro-environmental’.

None-the-less Natural England have organised for an area to be cordoned off with buoys to protect the threatened species.

This ‘anchor-free’ zone will be voluntary, but policed by wardens.  The boat owners however, are concerned, that should they be caught in the wrong place, at the wrong time their boat details will be published on the internet.  Natural England have denied that this is the case and explained that the wardens are only there to monitor the situation and they are confident that the cordon will be respected.

The Seahorse Trust has recently begun tagging seahorses in an effort to track and monitor their existence.  Currently there are believed to be 40 in Studland Bay.

Last year, seahorses were registered as a protected species for the first time.  Steve Trewhella of the Seahorse Trust, welcomed the study and said a ban on anchoring was just what was needed.