Save Ealing Skylarks! Join our Warren Farm NR demonstration on 21st February
DOWNLOAD YOUR DEMO POSTERS IN COLOUR AND BLACK AND WHITE VIA THESE LINKS! PUNJABI COLOUR VERSION HERE!
DOWNLOAD YOUR BANNERS (‘BUZZ OFF’, ‘WILDLIFE’ & ‘DEWILD’) INCLUDING FUN VERSIONS FOR KIDS! (‘OWL-MASK’ / ‘SKYLARK COLOUR-IN’)
Come join our friendly demonstration against the council’s plan to develop half of rewilded Warren Farm Nature Reserve! This is a really important opportunity to show Ealing Council just how much we all want to see all of our meadow wildlife safeguarded with Local Nature Reserve designation. Please come and be a voice for our Skylarks, Barn Owls, Wildflowers, Butterflies, Hedgehogs, Slow-Worms and so much more! Warren Farm NR is one of the green spaces that form the Lungs of London, a rare patch of big sky, an oasis for physical and mental health benefits for the community. Let’s give our wildlife who live here a voice they would not otherwise have! Here are the key facts:
DATE: Tuesday 21 February 2023
TIME: 17:30 – 19:00pm (can stay on to watch the meeting live - details incoming!)
LOCATION: outside Ealing Town Hall, New Broadway, W5 2BY
WHO CAN COME? Everyone is welcome!
WHAT TO BRING: Placards and signs! Wildlife inspired costumes and facepaints! Bee creative! (See what we did there?) Need inspiration? Check back to our website and social media for ideas!
WHAT CAN I EXPECT? A family friendly atmosphere where supporters of all ages are welcome to show their support for wildlife. We will be putting out downloadable bird songs that you can play through your mobile phone via our website. Come meet our Skylark! We will be holding the demo outside on the council steps from 17:30 – 19:00, at which point there will be the opportunity to watch the council meeting live that begins at 19:00. More details to follow! Your viewing options are as follows:
1) Join us live in the Ealing Council meeting room - the capacity of the room is limited so we’re expecting it to fill up quickly. Because of this you can instead follow our skylark from Ealing Town Hall to…
2) Come join us and fellow supporters in person for a celebration of Ealing’s wildlife and a live screening of the Scrutiny panel at The Ealing Project, 1 High Street, London, W5 5DB (Ground floor of the Ealing Broadway Shopping Centre, between M&S and Costa) - open until 11pm
3) Watch in real time via YouTube wherever you are
WHAT ELSE CAN I DO TO HELP? Spread the word! Download and print our Demo Posters and banners! Put them up in your windows at home, work, school! Get your nature loving friends and family along! Sign and share our petition. Write to your local councillors and respond to the Local Plan via the Local Plan consultation process before the deadline of 8th Feb.
MORE CALLS TO ACTION INCOMING!
Thank you so much for being a voice for Warren Farm Nature Reserve wildlife! Together, let’s #SaveEalingSkylarks and more!
Download your own colour poster here or black and white poster here! Punjabi version here! Download your banners (‘BUZZ OFF’, ‘WILDLIFE’ & ‘DEWILD’) including fun versions for kids! (‘OWL-MASK’ / ‘SKYLARK COLOUR-IN’)
The Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 21st February 2023 has been called by the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Gary Malcolm. The committee, made up of backbench councillors, has the power to refer the decision back to the council’s cabinet for further discussion and gives an opportunity for councillors to cancel or delay any decision of the proposed development on our re-wilded meadow habitat.
The Brent River & Canal Society and Warren Farm Nature Reserve group are bringing expert witnesses to the meeting to challenge the council’s case. We are also please asking YOU, our supporters to join in on our demonstration outside the Town Hall from 17:30 – 19:00, when the meeting is due to start, with the option of staying and watching the meeting live.
Since Ealing Council published its proposal on 17th January 2023, our petition calling for a Local Nature Reserve on the entire site has received 4,000 more signatures. It currently stands at 17,700!
Support has also come in from a number of high profile environmentalists such as wildlife writer and conservationist Kabir Kaul, wildlife TV presenter and conservationist Chris Packham, President of The Wildlife Trusts Liz Bonnin, London RSPB chief Andrew Peel, London Wildlife Trust Policy Director Matthew Frith, President of the RSPB and Vice President of the Wildlife Trusts Dr Amir Khan, TV and Radio presenter naturalist and ornithologist Lolo Williams, conservationist and TV presenter and founder of Ealing Wildlife Group Dr Sean McCormack, and conservationist and Director of Rewilding Britain Alastair Driver, among others.
Katie Boyles, Trustee of the Brent River & Canal Society (BRCS) and Warren Farm Nature Reserve campaign organiser, says:
“Until now, we have not called any street demonstrations. We thought it only fair to give Ealing Council the benefit of the doubt to do the right thing off the back of the conversations we have had with Leader, Peter Mason and Deputy Leader and Climate Action, Deirdre Costigan. We have shared with them expert evidence of why Warren Farm is such a unique and species-rich site and why our meadow, which has had 14 years to rewild, more than qualifies for full Local Nature Reserve designation. But sadly their decision, to develop on half of Warren Farm, pushed through by cabinet councillors at a recent cabinet meeting, would be an irreversible act of environmental vandalism, so we now we have no choice.
This decision, if not thrown out, would destroy the breeding ground of a quarter of London’s Skylarks and see the extinction in London of the Copse Bindweed, to name one plant species of importance growing here, with Warren Farm being the only site in London it grows. There is no such thing as losing just one species, it creates a domino affect of species loss. It’s absolutely vital, seeing as we live in one of the most nature depleted countries in the world and are in a Climate Emergency, that our wildlife is protected.
We are therefore asking our supporters to show the councillors how they feel about this unique re-wilded meadow and to voice their opposition to the de-wilding of half of it. Everyone of all ages is welcome to come join us for a peaceful demo on the 21st February, to lend their voice for the wildlife of Warren Farm Nature Reserve. If our Skylarks could protest, they would!”
BRCS Trustee Steven Toft says:
“If the council is going to develop a site of such ecological importance it really needs to have a watertight case for doing so. This report did not make that case so it is only right that the decision should be challenged and subjected to scrutiny – which is what the Overview and Scrutiny panel is for. We will be bringing in experts to challenge this decsion but we need to hear from everyone else too. If you don’t want this de-wilding plan to go ahead, please joing us at the Town Hall.”
The demonstraton will be held outside Ealing Town Hall, Ealing Broadway, London W5 2BY on 21st February 2023, from 17:30 to 19:00, when the meeting is due to start, with the option of staying and watching the meeting live.
For those unable to attend the demonstration, we’re urging their supporters to object to the proposed development by writing to their local councillors, using the Local Plan consultation process deadline 8th Feb and to sign the petition.