Ealing Council’s Leader commits to rewilding ‘the overwhelming majority’ of Warren Farm – so just how much is that?
The future of Warren Farm was discussed on Tuesday 19 April, at the last full meeting of Ealing Council before the upcoming election.
We were happy to hear Council Leader Peter Mason commit, in front of the full Council, to re-wilding “the overwhelming majority” of the former sports ground at Warren Farm. We welcome the news that he has been having productive conversations with Imperial College London and the Earl of Jersey about including their land within the overall Local Nature Reserve (LNR) designation. This is significant progress and will go a long way towards realising the Vision set out by Brent River & Canal Society and Warren Farm Nature Reserve group.
During the debate, Liberal Democrat leader Gary Malcolm rightly noted the importance of Warren Farm’s neutral and acid grassland, which is a priority conservation habitat in the Mayor’s London Plan. He went on to ask how much of Warren Farm’s former sports pitches will be given LNR designation, considering the many rare species on the site when compared to the adjacent pieces of land. Peter Mason replied with a comment appearing to say that both pieces of land either side of Warren Farm were also acid grassland and that Warren Farm Nature Reserve group shared his view. We would like to take this opportunity to clarify the facts of the matter and our stance on these points.
Please go to time code 55:48
What is the nature potential of the other two privately owned sites either side of Warren Farm NR?
Like Warren Farm, the Imperial College land has the potential to be largely acid and neutral grassland and therefore, with appropriate management, likely to be of similar interest for rare plants given time - but we cannot be sure. Warren Farm has greater recorded biodiversity because it has had over a decade for nature to recover. Our experts advise that the Earl of Jersey’s field, which is clay-capped landfill, would not be likely to develop in the same way, but instead presents an opportunity to extend the existing ancient woodland at Long Wood LNR and is therefore better suited to being allowed gradually to rewild back to oak and bluebell woodland.
In total, we are asking Ealing Council to designate seven connected green spaces as LNR’s. The eighth piece of land, Long Wood, is already designated (please see the map below).
Why do we believe all of Warren Farm should be left to nature?
To be very clear, we are in no doubt that the species diversity and habitats of Warren Farm is frankly extraordinary. The common, vulnerable and rare species occur because of the sheer size of this open space, the number of years the site has been left to rewild, the nature of the original soils present and the annual hay cutting agreed with and managed by Ealing Council. This combination has allowed species hidden in the seed bank - for years unable to flower - now to show themselves. We cannot afford to lose our rare plants growing here, some of which are facing both London and UK wide extinction. This is a big deal and there is a lot at stake. To lose any of this area would entail an unacceptable loss of biodiversity.
What about the hardstanding and derelict buildings area?
We have looked into this in our previous blog post here but in a nutshell, we are asking the Council to demolish the buildings. These are unsafe, an eyesore and beyond re-use. We say this area should be stripped back to the underlying gravel soil and returned to nature. This would extend the acid grassland and provide greater security in the centre of the site for our UK Red listed Skylarks that nest here.
How concerned should we be over Peter Mason’s search for a ‘compromise between nature and sport’?
The fact is, there is still a lot we don’t know. The eventual design of the LNR will depend on discussions with Imperial College London and the Earl of Jersey, should they decide to participate in full, and on the results of the public consultation. In our view, the design of the public consultation and the wording of its questions is heavily weighted towards sports. It is fair to say we are disappointed not to have been consulted on this as it fails to give the true picture of all the amazing wildlife that thrives on Warren Farm NR today.
In our discussions with Ealing Council to date, we have been clear that sports are not part of our Vision and that our 11,000 plus supporters have not signed up for sports, but agree with us that LNR designation is needed to safeguard this amazing green space, its wildlife and the environment and for the local community’s health and well-being. As an LNR, this designation will also ensure open public access to a much larger area than at present.
So Gary Malcolm’s question asking Ealing Council ‘What does the council regard as the minimum size for the viability of a nature reserve’ and Peter Mason’s response ‘the overwhelming majority’ mixed with ‘sports’ but at this stage missing any details of size or scale, or actual proposals on the table, leaves us and our supporters with this one clear conclusion: We believe the right thing to do for the future of Warren Farm is for Warren Farm to be given LNR designation in its entirety.
We give credit to Peter Mason for what he has done so far in progressing the BRCS Vision. He has, as we asked, entered into negotiations for LNR status for the Imperial College land and with the Earl of Jersey. Signage, access improvements and nature conservation management works have all been started. There are indications that further elements of the Vision will be forthcoming. But the ‘question of sports’ remains and is now his to answer.
We will, as always, work closely with Ealing Council to get LNR designation. When we have more information to share we will post here and keep you updated. Until then, we continue to give a voice to the wildlife of Warren Farm NR, a voice it would otherwise not have without you.
Thank you,
#WarrenFarmNR group
Our petition stays live until we get LNR designation, so please sign and share it here.
To reply to the Public Consultation and have your say in support of our wildlife, please click here.