A RADICAL plan to recreate the lost landscape of Wallasea Island has been unveiled to the public.

The RSPB wants to restore saltmarsh, creeks and mudflats by flooding 1,500 acres of land at Wallasea, the biggest project of its kind in the UK.

About eight miles of coastal walks and cycle routes will also be created on 1,500 acres of land which is being sold to the RSPB by Wallasea Farms.

As part of the £20million project, millions of tonnes of earth will be brought to Wallasea to help create new habitats for birds and other wildlife.

The soil will help protect the area from future floods, as the current 4.3 miles of sea wall is in poor condition.

Much of the earth will come from excavations beneath central London for the Crossrail railway project. The firm is digging 13 miles of tunnels, resulting in a huge amount of spoil – about six million tonnes of which will be transported to Wallasea by barge and unloaded at a temporary dock on the island.

Jeff Kew, operations manager for the RSPB, said the project would transform Wallsea into the biggest wetland habitat in Europe.

He said: “We have been working hard for more than 18 months to deliver this project and we have now been able to submit a planning application to Essex County Council.

“The size and scale of this site makes it unlike anything else in the UK.”

The RSPB hopes it will become home to a huge variety of birds, including spoonbills and Kentish plovers, which no longer breed in England.

Mr Kew stressed the project would also provide better flood protection, as parts of the site would be raised above sea level.

About £500,000 has already been spent preparing the project. It is hoped planning permission will be granted by Easter, so work can start next September.

The completed project is expected to be finished and open to the public by 2019.

The Crossrail company will be in charge of excavating the soil, transporting it to Wallasea and shaping the land.

Simon Phillips, construction liaison manager for Crossrail, said: “This will be a good home for the material.”

The plans were put on show on Friday and Saturday at the Freight House, Rochford.

While many visitors to the exhibition supported the proposals, some expressed concern about extra cars visiting the site. The new reserve will have two car parks, capable of holding 110 cars.

However, a study of Creeksea Ferry Road, Canewdon, which leads to the site, shows the extra 50,000 visitors expected to visit the reserve each year would result in just ten extra cars an hour at peak times.

Mr Kew said this was within the capacity of the road without any need to improve it at all.

The Environment Agency is also backing the proposal and investing about £3.5 million in it.

For more details, go to website www.rspb.org.uk/wallasea