New Ealing Local Plan - please object to sports development proposed on Warren Farm
Ealing Council released its Draft Local Plan on 30th November 2022. This document will set the parameters for the borough’s development over the next 15 years. As the introduction says, “The plan will touch almost every aspect of everyday life in Ealing.”
The plan’s proposed use for Warren Farm is described as “Sports facilities and Local Nature Reserve”. This is consistent with previous statements by the Council’s Leader Peter Mason and Deputy Leader and cabinet member for Climate Action Deidre Costigan.
As we explained in a previous post, their statements to date strongly imply that they intend to use the majority of Warren Farm for sports, with just the remainder being left as a Nature Reserve. At a scrutiny meeting called by Gary Malcolm, Leader of the Opposition, in August, Deirdre Costigan stated that the council intends to rewild over 60% of the total combined 33.5 hectare area of Warren Farm and the adjacent Imperial College land. As Councillor Costigan said, this would mean a Local Nature Reserve area of around 20 hectares. This implies that the sports facility would occupy the remaining 13 hectares. As the map below shows, this would take up more than half of Warren Farm’s current rewilded area.
(Map showing the impact of removing a 13-hectare area from rewilded Warren Farm Nature Reserve)
This would mean a reduction in publicly accessible green open space and a significant loss of biodiversity and the council is fully aware of these losses. As the Local Plan’s Site Selection Report acknowledges, Warren Farm is located within an area of deficiency in access to parks. It concludes:
“Although areas of public open space could be retained in the development, this is unlikely to be equivalent to the public open space lost”.
On the subject of biodiversity, the Local Plan’s assessment is equally grim:
“Site overlaps or is adjacent to SINC / green corridor / priority habitat / ancient woodland and will likely result in the partial or complete loss of the feature. Therefore it is unlikely effects of the development can be satisfactorily mitigated.”
We would go further still. In our view it is not only unlikely but practically impossible to mitigate the effects of development on Warren Farm in any meaningful way. Developing our rewilded wildflower meadow would cause an irreversible loss of biodiversity that cannot be simply offset by ‘rewilding’ other connected areas. Warren Farm Nature Reserve’s rare ecosystem and its unique assemblage of species would be lost, forever.
For Ealing’s only Skylark population, this decision would be catastrophic. The very reason Skylarks breed on Warren Farm and nowhere else in the borough is because it has 25 hectares of open grassland, full of wildflowers and insects, in which to nest and feed their chicks. This makes Warren Farm ideal for this endangered species under threat of extinction. The distance between their nesting areas and the hedges and trees surrounding the site gives them security. The large open area gives them sufficient room to establish territories to breed in relatively large numbers. Take more than half of that away and the remaining 12 hectare area would be too small to allow for our Skylarks to nest. Again, the council are fully aware that the borough’s only Skylarks are a threatened species and are hanging on by a thread.
Ealing Council’s own Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) acknowledges this fact:
“Despite several other areas of seemingly suitable open grassland habitat within the borough of Ealing, Skylarks have failed to expand their range beyond Warren Farm. It is thought that this may be due to the likes of Horsenden West and Islip Manor Meadows having too much surrounding tree cover and hedgerows breaking up the expanses of open spaces Skylarks need to feel safe enough to breed.
Because Warren Farm appears to be the only site suitable for Skylarks to breed within the borough of Ealing, any future development or changes of use must take them into account.
It is vital to minimise disturbance to breeding birds as well as avoid or minimise the introduction of vertical structures that may force them to abandon the site due to increased opportunity for predators”.
Developing sport facilities on Warren Farm would be at odds with Ealing Council’s own Climate and Ecological Strategy and would be severely counter-productive given the current Climate Emergency and the council’s biodiversity commitments.
Nature has gifted us an accidental gem - a distinctive ecological environment on Warren Farm Nature Reserve that doesn’t exist anywhere else in the borough. Its sheer size and interconnectedness are key to its ecological value. Its whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
If the council chooses to ignore Warren Farm Nature Reserve’s rewilded value and instead chooses to add sports facilities, it will mean a significant loss of biodiversity for Ealing. If the council believes that to be a worthwhile trade-off, it must have a clear and well-researched explanation as to why. We do not believe this case has been made.
The results of the council’s Public Consultation, published in August 2022, showed a vast majority wanting to see Warren Farm Nature Reserve safeguarded for its biodiversity. Over 13,000 supporters have signed our petition to give Warren Farm official statutory Local Nature Reserve designation in its entirety. We know they will be extremely concerned about the council’s proposal.
CALL TO ACTION
We are therefore asking our supporters to respond to the Local Plan consultation and oppose the development of a sports facility on Warren Farm on the following grounds:
• SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY (as acknowledged in the Local Plan’s Site Selection Report)
• LOSS OF PUBLICLY-ACCESSIBLE GREEN SPACE (as acknowledged in the Local Plan’s Site Selection Report)
• LOSS OF REWILDED MEADOW HABITAT - HOME TO ENDANGERED SPECIES
• LOSS OF BOROUGH’S ONLY BREEDING SKYLARKS (as acknowledged in the council’s Biodiversity Action Plan)
• THE DEVELOPMENT WOULD BE AT ODDS WITH EALING COUNCIL’S OWN CLIMATE AND ECOLOGICAL STRATEGY AND WOULD BE SEVERELY COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE GIVEN THE CURRENT CLIMATE EMERGENCY AND THE COUNCIL’S OWN BIODIVERSITY COMMITMENTS
Our supporters have until 25th January 2023 to make comments on the Local Plan. You can respond today by please emailing Ealing Council at localplan@ealing.gov.uk.
Please help us to preserve this rare natural asset for the Borough of Ealing, for our urban wildlife and for future generations. Thank you!
#WarrenFarmNR Group
Our petition also remains open. Please sign and share it here.