In October 2020, The Brent River & Canal Society (BRCS) released a new vision for Warren Farm Nature Reserve and surrounding BRP Meadows. This exciting vision has the environmental foresight to propose the inclusion of the green spaces that surround Warren Farm NR under statutory Local Nature Reserve (LNR) designation so that together, they all form one large, protected, biodiversity-rich green space and Wildlife Corridor.

The Brent River & Canal Society and the Warren Farm Nature Reserve Campaign Group are working to to run the petition, further the campaign and to promote the BRCS’s forward-thinking, expansive vision for nature in the borough and UK as a whole. A vision that not only protects nature at Warren Farm NR but so much more at a time when we need our green spaces more than ever!

The proposed vision of the LNR will have Warren Farm NR at its centre, with Jubilee Meadow, Trumper’s Field, Blackberry Corner and Fox Meadow (also known as St Margaret’s Open Space) connected.

What’s more, we have also recommended that Ealing Council acquire two pieces of currently privately-owned land that are also connected to Warren Farm Nature Reserve, namely the former Warren Farm playing fields (horse pasture currently owned by Imperial College London) and the Earl of Jersey’s Field (also privately owned).

When this expansive vision is to be fully realised in its entirety by Ealing Council, this Wildlife Corridor will stretch all the way to the M4 and to the magnificent Long Wood, which is itself already an important designated LNR and Grade 1 Site of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC).

Collectively this will create one vast, connected, Local Nature Reserve. It will be a breath of fresh air for us all in this built up urban city; a carbon sink beneficial to thriving wildlife and human mental and physical health, open to everyone of all ages, backgrounds and abilities.

If Ealing Council and the London Mayor truly want to increase and safeguard biodiversity in Ealing and London as a whole, this vision is the path to take.

When the council choose to support our shared vision for Warren Farm Nature Reserve and its closely surrounding green spaces being designated with statutory LNR status, this will go an extremely long way to help fulfil Ealing Council’s Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy, drafted in May 2020 and published January 2021. The strategy is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2030, increased tree cover and to expand meadow habitats and hedgerows - our Warren Farm NR vision achieves all of these and more. In short, we strongly believe that if Ealing Council dewild Warren Farm NR they will not achieve their strategy. But by fully adopting our vision, Ealing Council will also set a forward-thinking example of what other councils across the UK should be aiming to achieve with their own environmental strategies.