Beddington Farmlands: An Update on the Restoration Plan
There is an opportunity coming up where the Nature Reserve Ranger is leading a tour of the farmlands as part of Wandle Fortnight. Go and enjoy, see it for yourself! Wed 23rd Sep 10:00am - 11:30am:https://www.wandlevalleyforum.org.uk/wandle-fortnight.html
Beddington Farmlands, A Legendary Birdwatching Hotspot! That’s the opinion of the London Natural History Society.
They reported ‘258 species of bird have been recorded, 476 species of moth, 9 species of bat, over 300 species of plants and hundreds of invertebrates – with over 350 species of fly recorded, including the discovery of a species that was considered extinct.’
So why is there so much controversy at the moment when this appears, on the surface, to be a major success story?
Well, on the 2nd September an amendment to the originally agreed restoration plan for the Beddington Landfill Site came to the planning committee, specifically to approve the replacement of the originally planned acid and heathland habitat with rich meadowland habitat due to the technical challenges associated with delivering the former.
Converting the farmlands to acid grassland would mean adding chemicals that could be harmful to the Wandle. That sounds like working against nature, not with it. And this is a nature reserve. However, I’m not the expert but the council's senior Biodiversity Officer agrees.
They say that the issue with the original plan is “there's the chance of releasing heavy metals which will then potentially filter into the chalk stream, the river Wandle. So that's obviously a very bad thing.
“Also, the process will create carbon emissions and any mitigation would require taking away a hectare from other habitats. On top of which the process would probably need to be repeated every 3 to 4 years so therefore it becomes very difficult for officers to manage.”
As well as new meadows, the new proposal will see the erection of a single-storey agricultural building, a single-storey building for the control unit, new access gates, security fencing, and seating.
So what is the issue? Nothing controversial here is there?
Well, it’s been a protracted process. It feels as if promises were made and not delivered. It became apparent that the acid and heathland habitat promised in the original application was not going to happen in 2023. And when the council opted for enforcement, an amendment of over 1000 pages was submitted. This took some time to assess and discussions on how to implement were had.
This resulted in a series of deadlines which will be monitored with each phase capable of enforcement, inserted into the application rather than just a single date for completion. With a clear path of funding from the applicant.
It’s all a bit messy but we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact that we already have a nature reserve, the size of Hyde Park, on the site. A landfill site.
There is an opportunity coming up where the Nature Reserve Ranger is leading a tour of the farmlands as part of Wandle Fortnight. Go and enjoy, see it for yourself!
Wed 23rd Sep 10:00am - 11:30am
https://www.wandlevalleyforum.org.uk/wandle-fortnight.html
- Cllr Andrew Jenner