Ealing Council’s Warren Farm consultation shows majority in favour of re-wilding and a nature reserve
Ealing Council published the results of its public consultation on the future of Warren Farm on Thursday 4th August.
We are delighted with the result, which shows a large majority in favour of safeguarding our wildflower meadow in its re-wilded state.
Asked what they valued most about Warren Farm, 70% said they liked its biodiversity and open green space.
Ealing Council’s consultation response showing a summary of what respondents like most about Warren Farm
The council’s survey contained the somewhat leading question about what sports should be provided on Warren Farm – reflecting a prior assumption that the land, which has had over a decade to rewild, will see some sort of sports facilities built on it.
Ealing Council’s consultation survey - a screenshot of a question on sports provision
The survey also shows that people are already using Warren Farm as a recreational Nature Reserve, very much in line with the Brent River & Canal Society Vision. People value the re-wilded open space and use it to take regular exercise whilst enjoying the wildlife. At a time when councils are being asked to increase biodiversity and healthy life expectancy, a Nature Reserve on Warren Farm will help to do both. The consultation has clearly shown that this is what people want.
As the council’s summary of the consultation notes:
“A majority of people say it is a valued green space and a wildlife haven, and view it as a precious escape to nature for locals that should be preserved.”
So despite some of the leading questions being loaded towards a sports outcome in the survey and with zero information given on the wildlife that is present here, the message that the local community want to see the re-wilded state of Warren Farm Nature Reserve preserved comes through loud and clear.
However, it is also clear from Ealing Council’s report on the consultation that it still intends to put some sports facilities on Warren Farm. It twice refers to its recently published sports strategy to justify the need for sports provision on the site and the recent video from Eaing Council Leader, Peter Mason, emphasises this point.
A skylark on Warren Farm (photo credit: David Gordon Davy, @hamadryad527)
Meetings with the council to discuss more detailed proposals for Warren Farm will take place soon and the Warren Farm Nature Reserve campaign group will be going into these meetings buoyed up by the results of the public consultation and by the 12,700 (and growing!) signatories on our petition.
We would like to give a big THANK YOU to all our supporters who completed this consultation. You have made your views plain and now it’s our job to work with the council to ensure that your voices, and those of our wildlife, are heard.
This is another big step forward in our campaign to keep Warren Farm Nature Reserve as a unique area of rewilded urban grassland and to maintain it as a habitat for endangered wildlife. But it is crucial that we maintain the whole of our meadow as a nature reserve, especially for those species such as our skylarks, a red-listed bird facing extinction in the UK. Skylarks need the wide-open spaces that enable them to nest on the ground away from fencing and trees, which predators can use as perches to pick-off their chicks. Skylark numbers are increasing year-on-year here and Local Nature Reserve designation for the entirety of our wildflower meadow will be a huge step towards safeguarding this unique habitat for them, a multitude of other species and for future generations to enjoy. Any reduction or encroachment on the size of this habitat means a reduction in biodiversity and a shrinkage of the area in which skylarks can nest.
Photo of walkers on Warren Farm Nature Reserve (photo credit: @nuttynatter)
We have been gifted a rare gem in Warren Farm – there is nowhere else like it in west London. Please continue to sign and share the petition and together let’s safeguard Warren Farm NR for both the health of our wildlife and of future generations, thank you!
#WarrenFarmNR group