If you've never visited Wigan Flashes – you should. Within easy reach of Wigan town centre, and covering an area of 593 acres, the Flashes are an ideal place to spend a quiet Sunday afternoon.

Rooted in our industrial past, the history of Wigan Flashes is fascinating. Originally formed by mining subsidence, the Flashes were a dumping site for industrial waste including colliery spoil and fly ash.

The spoil was re-quarried for a short time during the 1950s and 1960s, to extract ash for road building. When quarrying was abandoned and the Flashes were left to nature the scrub began to encroach over the area, and some parts of the reed bed dried, creating the beginnings of the interesting and ecologically diverse landscape we know today.

Despite its industrial history, the site is now home to a wide variety of plant, bird and other wildlife. Amongst the highlights are 5 species of rare orchid and 200 bird species including the reed warbler and the bittern.

Recognising the importance of the Flashes, Wigan Council has worked hard to develop and promote the site as an area of special scientific interest and biological importance and as a recreational area.

The reed beds are of particular interest both locally and nationally. Home to 15 different types of dragonfly, they also provide an over-wintering and breeding habitat for the rare bittern.

Wigan Council has successfully attracted support and funding from organisations like the RSPB and EU life, to help develop and maintain the reed beds and improve the area's recreational facilities. Almost half a million pounds has been spent in the last 5 years.

Many people enjoy the Flashes each week. The canal towpath which runs through the site is popular with walkers, the birdlife makes the area a magnet for ornithologists, and fishing and sailing are popular weekend activities.

Wigan Council formally recognised the site as a local nature reserve in 2002. Now they plan to build a major road right through the area which could potentially undo years of hard work, and damage the habitat of many important species. The Council has already started felling trees on the site, apparently in preparation for the construction works?

But there is hope for the Flashes. Wigan Council has committed in its Unitary Development Plan to encourage conservation and to protect areas of special scientific interest from the adverse affects of development.

It is not yet clear how the Council will fulfill this commitment in relation to the A5225 - and while we have heard much about the benefits the proposed road will bring little has been said as yet about the cost to the environment and the impact on local communities. Planning permission has not been granted yet, so there is still time for the Council to consider the environmental impact and rethink its plans.

At the moment the Council appears to be fully behind the project, yet little thought has gone into protecting the Flashes which up till now have also been an important project for the Council.

The current proposal for the A5225 include building an earth mound between Pearsons and Westwood Flash. This will encroach into Pearsons Flash and the important reedbeds.

If the proposal goes ahead there is little doubt that the current wildlife habitats will be changed. They may even be permanently damaged or destroyed. So far the Council has done little to reassure us on this matter, instead they appear to be forging ahead with the work, with little regard for the concerns of the local people they claim to represent.