Ealing Council scrutiny committee approves Warren Farm development
Wed 22 Feb 2023
The Ealing Council Overview and Scrutiny Committee was convened at the request of Councillor Gary Malcolm, the Leader of the Opposition. Comprising of backbench councillors, the committee had the authority to send the decision back to the council's cabinet for further deliberation, but upheld the initial decision made by the cabinet on 25 January 2023.
The decision was a disappointment to the vocal residents who decided to attend the meeting. They were not impressed by the "I will just read my PR statement again" rather than answer any specific questions.
Before the scrutiny committee meeting, there was large vocal demonstration by hundreds of residents outside Ealing Town Hall. These included local residents, politicians and supporters as well as families with children. Their petition calling for Warren Farm and the surrounding meadows to be designated as a Local Nature Reserve has been signed by over 19,000 people.
According to campaigners, the proposal to develop a sports facility on the meadow, which has had 14 years to re-wild and is home to vulnerable species, runs counter to local and national policies.
This article does not go into any details and only presents a very high level overview of what is happening.
What is the history of Warren Farm? There used to 16 football pitches, 6 crickets pitches, 8 netball courts and more on Warren Farm. After being neglected for more than a decade it has become a nature reserve. All the council sees are some derelict buildings on the site.
This is demonstrated by statements like "It was a sports ground. It’s still a sports ground. It's derelict land."
The sad reality is that Ealing Council has decided to dewild around 50% of the current nature reserve. It avoids saying that because residents would strongly object, as it is against their own green policies.
A council that REFUSES to say they that they plan to dewild around 50% of Warren Farm nature reserve, is NOT willing to compromise. But, it is the campaigners who are not willing to compromise according to Cllr Deirdre Costigan, Deputy Leader of Ealing Council and Cabinet Member for Climate Action.
A comprise would be to preserve the most vital parts of the nature reserve and build on the rest.
The council’s PRIMARY plan is to build the sports facility at a specific locations and look at (or ignore) other issues later.
It’s only a proposal. Once we get the feasilbilty study results, we will look at the negative impact and try to minimise them? It will mostly likely be too late at that stage to roll back anything.
Ealing Council, has in the past, been guilty of putting the cart before the horse in the High Court.
How do they justify dewilding Warren Farm. They are going to lease, free of cost, some more adjoining land to be part of the new nature reserve to show their green credentials.
Why not use that land to build football and crickets pitches on, instead of destroying the current nature reserve?
The other party (or Ealing Council?) want to use that land as a nature Reserve ONLY. Warren Farm had football and cricket pitches. After a decade of doing nothing, it became a nature reserve.
So, why would the other party object to football or cricket pitches on its land? It makes no sense.
Residents are asking why they cannot play cricket and football on the massively underutilised Osterley cricket land which needs the investment, possible with a grant, and will not destroy nature.
Warren Farm could be a great educational centre for city children too.
The people of Southall need this
The sports pitches are badly needed for the people of Southall. People in Southall are very inactive and 2 in 5 don’t do the necessary walks to remain healthy.
The Let’s Go Southall initiative and these sports grounds will lead the way. The Let’s Go Southall project received around £8 million in funding over 3 years to get the people of Southall more active. Was the money well spent or squandered?
What difference did it make?
Can anyone enlighten the residents of Southall?
What difference did it make to the above statistics?
If the Council cannot get people of Southall to walk, in Norwood Green Park (most deprived area), to get more active, what will sports pitches located far away achieve?
Did anyone hear the saying "Learn to walk before you run?"
Anyone who goes to parks (Southall Park, Spikes Bridge Park, Recreation Grounds) can see people play football and cricket matches on the open grass.
How many people do you see, on the over 25 pitches at Warren Farm? All Ealing Council had to do was cut the grass and the same would happen there. They showed no sympathy for the deprived people of Southall.
Could the location of Warren Farm have led to its decline? It is more near to the residents of Hanwell than all the 6 wards in Southall.
The people of Southall don’t speak or are digitally excluded? Ealing Council tells us, that Southall residents say Ealing Council does not listen to them. Southall councillors say the Council officers do not listen to them. Could that possibly have anything to do with the poor response from Southall?
Could the location on Warren Farm, have anything to do with the poor response from Southall?
Which people are going to benefit?
Which people are going to benefit from the proposed sports ground? Is it the young? The Old? The disabled? The nearby residents? The far away residents? The deprived? The privileged?
Which people benefit from a nature reserve? The young, the old and the disabled. It’s free and does not discriminate on any grounds.
Large numbers of local residents, politicians and supporters attended to protest against @EalingCouncil’s decision to build on wildlife-rich @WarrenFarmNR
— VisitSouthall (@VisitSouthall) February 22, 2023
including MANY #Southall residents #SaveWarrenFarmNR #WarrenFarmNR #SaveEalingSkylarks pic.twitter.com/aMB7cFNg2h
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