The Ealing Council cabinet have accepted the controversial proposal to give Warren Farm Local Nature Reserve status and also build a sports facility on the site. 

On Wednesday 26th January, the cabinet met and accepted the proposal to build a sports facility at Warren Farm, despite many in Ealing objecting to the proposal on the grounds of the endangered Skylarks which live on the site. 

Ealing Council Leader Peter Mason took to Twitter after the meeting to post a link to the Ealing Labour Party website where they outlined their plans for Warren Farm moving forwards. 

The statement on the Labour website said: "We know just how important the site has become for wildlife and we are proud to have a rare and valuable acid grassland habitat right here in the heart of the borough – supporting wildflowers, butterflies, bees and lots of different bird species.  

"We want to protect this, and we can now move ahead with what will be the largest rewilding project attempted in London in decades, enhancing the site's rich and valuable nature and biodiversity long into the future. 

"We have bold plans to rewild 800,000sqm of the borough for the benefit of wildlife and local people. Our plans for Warren Farm are an important step towards this goal. 

"As those who visit Warren Farm will know, much of the land is dedicated to hard-standing and dilapidated concrete buildings.  

"We believe that this land can be repurposed to bring back sports provision for local people, as we know we have an under-provision of cricket, football and other sports provision in the borough – particularly in Southall where more people suffer from ill health and early death compared to other areas of the borough. 

"We have successfully negotiated with Imperial College and they have agreed that the council can take over the lease of their land without payment.  

"Imperial shares our ambition for a local nature reserve and this agreement means that we've secured additional green space that allows us to rewild 62% of the expanded site. 

"We will also be repurposing and revamping the remaining 38% of the site, we can make decent sports facilities available for local young people again." 

Despite their purported interest in the environmental side of Warren Farm, the local Liberal Democrats, Green Party, and Conservatives all opposed this plan, as do several environmental groups in Ealing. 

Warren Farm Nature Reserve had written an open letter to councillors on Tuesday 24th January, asking them to reconsider on various environmental grounds, including the impact the sports facility would have on the Skylarks. 

There is also a

e attempting to stop the plan moving forward.