NIRAH - SINK OR SWIM?
Aquarium company close to collapse
July 2006

The Captive Animals' Protection Society (CAPS) and Bedford Animal Action have welcomed news that NIRAH, the company behind plans for the world's largest freshwater aquarium, may go into adminstration, which would prevent the controversial aquarium and animal laboratory being built.

The two organisations accused NIRAH of "behaving like a spoilt child" after Bedfordshire County Council refused to provide another £300,000 on top of the £1.5 million already given to get the animal captivity centre through the planning process. This is in addition to £1.5 million already provided by the East of England Development Agency.

CAPS and Bedford Animal Action have criticised the NIRAH Project for its planned captivity of wild-caught animals (one-third of all the animals on display would be taken from the wild) and its proposed laboratory where drug companies would experiment on animals.

NIRAH has already been accused of shifting its focus "from science to tourism". One local MP, Nadine Dorris, pointed out that the NIRAH Project is actually three large hotels, a water park, a cinema and a bowling alley - the aquarium is now just one small part of a huge development project. Mrs Dorris has also called on the council not to provide more money, saying: "So far the taxpayer has given £3 million to fund the NIRAH concept ... and yet it still wants more money to develop what is a commercial, profit-making project."

The estimated cost of building has spiralled from £250 million to £375 million. At a recent public meeting local residents said they were concerned that the building could "wipe out a whole village".

Information recently obtained by CAPS under the Freedom of Information Act has revealed:

• Up to May 2006, Bedfordshire County Council had 47 meetings with Nirah and received around 170 letters opposing the aquarium
• Bedford Borough Council had received 310 letters and e-mails of opposition
• Despite all of these complaints and a county council loan to NIRAH of £1.5 million, neither the county, borough or district councils have held one single public consultation or contacted any animal protection or conservation organisation for their opinion

For more information on our opposition to the NIRAH Project see our Questions and Answers page.

Ask the local councils to withdraw support for this captive animal facility - click here for more details.