Beddington Farmlands Campaign Update

Still no sign of the wet grassland habitat development starting which is very concerning as there is a race against the clock to replace the wetland habitat for our breeding Lapwings before 100 acre and southeast corner are decommissioned. 

Went to the launch of the Wandle Valley Regional Park Strategy 2016-2020 at the GLA Onion on Friday and there was lots of discussion about the new community fund (the s106 money from the incinerator) and the potential to realise several objectives including biodiversity green space improvements adjacent to the farmlands, strengthening green corridors and links between the wider park and the farmlands  and also developing visitor facilities and increased public engagement. 

Without the habitats it's all a bit pointless so hopefully work will start soon. 

It also seems pretty final that Irrigation Bridge is going to be demolished and we're going to loose one of our most important access points to the reserve.

So a bit of a mixed bag and basically all the power is with Viridor (for anyone who hasn't worked it out yet we now live in a corporate dictatorship where local council, community groups, NGOs, regulatory bodies and the courts are almost completely powerless). The only hope is to encourage the company to meet their social and environmental commitments either through providing support, additional funding, volunteering or providing expert services or by discouraging their injustices through direct action E.G. HERE , activism or dragging them into regulatory and legal processes to slow them down a little bit. A good campaign to encourage corporate environmental responsibility will utilise all methods and measures available. 

A couple new access improvements at the reserve in recent weeks 

The Incinerator (the Death Star) and in the foreground a new area of sacrificial crop being planted

I'm contemplating standing for a local politician- basically to use the platform to highlight the importance of Beddington Farmlands and engagement with nature for the local population. Here's my first campaigning poster!