Much of Warren Farm looks set to be used for new community sports facilities and the remainder is set to receive Local Nature Reserve (LNR) status.

Local authorities can select a site, and then declare and manage it as a local nature reserve (LNR). The council needs to submit their draft declaration document to Natural England. After further consultation, they need to submit the final declaration document. Natural England will then add the LNR to the Designated Sites list.

At the next Ealing Council cabinet meeting, on Wednesday 25 January 2023, they will consider whether to apply for Nature Reserve status for the majority of the site at Windmill Lane, Southall.

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This, we are told, will pave the way for a large-scale rewilding project (the largest in the capital) that will protect and enhance Warren Farm's rich and valuable natural and biodiversity. Right next door to a NEW car park and sporting facilities?

The land adjoining Warren Farm is owned by Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. The expanded nature reserve will include this land as the council has successfully negotiated a 99 year management lease.

Future management of the reserve will be confirmed in forthcoming announcements.

Warren Farm is Ealing’s largest outdoor sports ground, but has not been used for over 10 years and the site is run-down. The council’s last attempt to sell it cheaply to Queens Park Rangers ended in failure.

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There is a need for additional cricket and football pitches in the area but on Warren Farm.

Last year, the council gave local people the chance to have a say in any future plans for Warren Farm. Their views were ignored in the skewed consultation.

Do we need more community sports facilities? The answer is Yes.
Do we need more community sports facilities on Warren Farm? Nobody asked that question?
Should the Council keep their hands off Warren Farm? Nobody asked that question.

Jules Cox, an award winning wildlife photographer, said that an "important habitat for Skylark, a protected red listed species, is going to be lost to what is essentially a re development. The nature is already there."

Sean McCormack (conservationist, vet, presenter and Founder and Chair of Ealing Wildlife Group) said: "Ealing Council plans to destroy half of Warren Farm for sports facilities will cause our last remaining Skylarks to go extinct."

"This is not acceptable when Ealing Council’s own Biodiversity Action Plan vows to protect Skylarks, Barn Owls & vital open expanses of meadow they need & cling on in. It’s not a choice between Skylarks, Barn Owls & rich tapestry of life here Vs school children’s access to sports.

"We can absolutely have both. It’s a choice of whether we value Biodiversity, nature and what the overwhelming majority of the community have told our leaders that they want for the site. Finding a more appropriate site closer to Southall communities for sports is a win win.”

"Warren Farm may have been sports fields many years ago before it became a rewilded landscape, but it was underused and fell into dereliction because it is inaccessible and out of the way. In a climate emergency we shouldn’t be bussing schoolchildren miles away to play sports."

"The Biodiversity Action Plan and Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy mean nothing at all if these plans go ahead as proposed. This is not compromise, it’s greenwashing."

"There are far better ways to provide sports facilities for Southall. In a Climate & Biodiversity crisis you’ll make a big mistake sanctioning this fiasco of a plan."

"The council have identified 7 other suitable sites in their 2022-2031 sports strategy, and none of them are skylark nesting sites."

Make your voice heard BEFORE the next Ealing Council cabinet meeting, on Wednesday 25 January 2023. That is the day they decide.