Beddington Farmlands- Viridor press release

 Mark Avery updated on this on his blog recently SEE HERE and here is the latest corporate video from Viridor. 

Mark Avery asks in his blog post what I make of all this and refers to the post about the situation that I wrote for his blog in 2016 HERE. 

Any regular reader of this blog will know exactly what I make of all this. More to come this weekend if I can summon the will to write something in a civilised manner instead of just writing a summary of the situation in native terms which would utilise the words 'bollox, of, load, fucking and a' . So best not to do that and write something more thoughtful. More to come on this. 

*Ok so here goes. What do I make of Viridor's press release? Firstly, what has happened since 2016 and the state of things that were outlined on Mark Avery's blog HERE. In 2016 Tree Sparrows were hanging in there (following a crash) and Lapwings were stable. A further seven target species had either declined drastically, had become extinct or failed to establish and one target species, Reed Warbler, was doing well. So in 2016 two target species out of ten were above or at baseline figures- a score of 2/10- not very good. Surely things could only get better? Wrong! Since then Tree Sparrows have become extinct as both a breeding and wintering bird (see here) and Lapwings are now facing the threat of imminent extinction (due to massive land use changes on the Thames Water managed part of the site) with a decline to 8 pairs this year (a figure now below baseline). The Lapwings are now the focus of a campaign,  'Save the Lapwings' see here and a petition association with the campaign is nearing 3000 supporters see here. 

So Viridor's scoreboard for conservation success is now at 1 out of 10. Only Reed Warbler has been a success story. Basically a complete and utter fail. LOSERS! A shameful and pathetic result for everyone involved- Viridor, the Council and all stakeholders in the CSG and the CAMC (They kicked me off these committees in 2018 INSIDE CROYDON ARTICLE HERE for contesting the disgraceful conduct and shameful work). 

Meanwhile our bird group and independent local community effort has gone from strength to strength e.g. see Project Log at  RESEARCH GATE BEDDINGTON FARMLANDS . We were nominated for the BTO Marsh Awards in 2019 and the 2019 Birdwatch Conservation Heroes awards and our impact in the local community has continued to build and increase. 

However like most things in late stage Capitalism the smart people are not in power and the dumb people in power have higher authority than the smart people- the world is literally upside down, everything is wrong, our world is currently literally led by donkeys. Any late stage system is defined by that structure- a complete and total loss of confidence in the official and established leadership. A recognition of the need for a complete overhaul and upgrade. 

That is what has to change because despite our heroic efforts and award winning works we have not been able to save Beddington Famlands (e.g see here) and nearly all our wildlife has been lost. We have not saved anything but we have had one major and critically important success- we have proven, mapped out and forensically recorded the nature of systemic political and planning system corruption that leads to biodiversity loss and community disempowerment.

We have documented in intricate detail a conspiracy of council biodiversity officers, professional ecologists on the take and bird group and power crazed community informants and collaborators working for the interests of Corporate leaders. We have effectively identified all the errors in the planning and political system algorithm and now have the knowledge of how to re-write that algorithm to ensure that people and planet is prioritised above the interests of corporate leaders and their gangs of dicks.   

We need to use our knowledge in an all out challenge (community empowerment, political challenge and legal challenge) against the council-corporate-bad community axis, we need to put smart people in power, ensure that Beddington farmlands is led by smart people and not the donkeys, we need to take control and power if we are to save our local community and nature.   

So what do I think of Viridor's press release? Apart from the cringing video of community lapdogs begging for biscuits in a sinister ,creepy and sickening greenwash, the latest press release is simply more of the same thing- an attempt to conceal a slow and degenerative disease, the disease of slow multi-decadal decline, the inexorable erosion of people and planet that Capitalism and its corporate leader captains inevitably delivers, the increasing loss of biodiversity and increasing in human inequality.  If it can't be stopped we are all consigned to depressed, lack lustre, powerless and natureless states that can in theory last for generations and generations. Hell on earth is emerging. The wet grassland that the press release features is 10 years behind schedule, over 200 acres of wetland and Lapwing breeding habitat is currently being 'drained', the wet grassland will take years before the Lapwings can move into this new habitat which in no way will compensate the current loss of habitat. It's all too little too late. The Lapwings will almost certainly either become extinct or will decline further. Furthermore Viridor have already started the first in what will presumably be a wave of planning applications to clear existing conditions (see here ) and despite the graphic presented in the press release there is also discussion to clear the condition to create acid grassland and heathland. The reality is that Beddington Farmlands is on an escalating crash course and the hidden agenda of Viridor is to deliver a mere shadow of what they initially promised but to conceal that until the very last minute when it will be easier to achieve that because they would have slowly destroyed everything they were legally obliged to save and will push through completion in the name of meeting deadlines while simultaneously clearing conditions in order to achieve those deadlines. This is the same story of corporate conduct not just with regards to ecology but other societal aspects too.  A value extraction agenda that leads to loss of nature and quality of human life with a paper trail that is slowly lost through time and concealment, an agenda that is turning the whole of society and planet to rust. 

We need an upgraded and modern system, one that embraces the positive aspects of capitalism, meritocracy, incentive and individualism but one that also has checks and balances against disaster capitalism and its impacts in the destruction of nature and local community. We need a system where the smart people are in power, people that value nature and community and one were corporations do work in balance with community and nature. We need a sustainable and regenerative system. We need an upgrade. So that is exactly what we need to achieve. We have some very exciting plans brewing :-)