Warren Farm Petition Reaches 25,000 Signatures
Campaign receives a boost by featuring on Chris Packham show
Katie Boyles and Kabir Kaul with a banner on Warren Farm
November 9, 2023
The Warren Farm Nature Reserve Campaign has received a double boost this week.
Firstly, the petition it has launched has reached the milestone of 25,000 signatures and, secondly, it has been featured on Chris Packham’s YouTube wildlife show8 Out Of 10 Bats (Episode 5).
8 Out of 10 Bats aims to highlight some of Britain’s outstanding young naturalists and conservationists and this time out there was an appearance from Kabir Kaul; Warren Farm Nature Reserve campaigner and Special Advisor to the Brent River & Canal Society (BRCS).
Describing Warren Farm Nature Reserve as “a hidden ecological jewel” Mr Kaul said, “Ealing Council plan to build sports pitches here, effectively dewilding the entire meadow.”
He added, “Because of the disastrous plans of the council, the future of wildlife here hangs very delicately in the balance, and if the plans were to go ahead, I don’t think future generations would forgive them for it.”
BRCS Trustee and Warren Farm Nature Reserve Campaign Organiser Katie Boyles featured in Kabir’s report, saying, “A quarter of London’s skylark population nest here, and part of that is because of the sheer expanse of the site, so there are no trees or hedges or fencing for predators to perch on.”
She added, “The wildflower meadow we have here is basically a free restaurant with an amazing menu and if I was a Skylark, I would live here too!”
Asked about her hopes for the future of Warren Farm, Ms Boyles said, “Let’s say when we get Local Nature Reserve designation, that will give a certain protected future for all of the wildlife that lives here, for our Barn Owls, our Hedgehogs, our Skylarks, our rare plants, for the wildlife and the community that has fallen in love with this place.”
8 Out of 10 Bats Presenter and Zoologist Megan McCubbin reacted on air to the Warren Farm report by saying “I love that do-it yourself attitude – no-one else is going to do it, we’ll just kind of get on with it.”
BRCS Trustee Steven Toft said, after the report was shown, “The Warren Farm Nature Reserve Campaign and the Brent River & Canal Society are extremely grateful to our Special Adviser Kabir Kaul, Chris Packham and the entire 8 Out Of 10 Bats team for featuring our campaign. Spreading awareness of our meadow’s high ecological value gives our community, and the wildlife under threat, a much needed voice at a time of climate crisis and in one of the most nature depleted countries in the world.”
The Brent River & Canal Society and the Warren Farm Nature Reserve campaign group are encouraging Ealing residents to write to their councillors asking them to protect Warren Farm Nature Reserve in its entirety with Local Nature Reserve designation.
Supporters can sign the petition here and write to their local councillors whose email contact details can be found here.
Ealing Council has robustly defended its plans for Warren Farm saying that extra sports facilities are desperately needed in the borough and that the incorporation of adjacent land will ultimately increase the acreage rewilded.
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