This is the "flaming" June Save Lea Marshes Newsletter. Flaming because it's been an unusually hot Spring and because of the wretched portable BBQs that are despoiling the grass, possibly leading to fire incidents. No amount of notices around our local areas seem to put off people determined to flambe some poor unfortunate piece of animal..
This could be our "theme" of the month but I had in mind another, drawing on a range of stories in the press and on-line - the roles and relationships of our larger wildlife organisations and local authorities managing our green spaces in these particularly trying Covid-19 times, as well as the challenges - financial and environmental. See these examples below:
EXAMPLE 1: WILDLIFE GREEN COALITION CALLS FOR NATIONAL NATURE BODY TO AID REBOUND
Viewers of BBC1 TV's "Countryfile" last Sunday and Guardian readers of the Monday 22 June edition will be appraised of a new coalition of some of the country's biggest green organisations with the aim of getting the Government to create and fund a new national nature service to restore wildlife habitats in England, tackling neglect caused by lockdown, combat the climate change crisis and create thousands of jobs. The Coalition has drawn up a list of 330 projects that are "ready to go", including flower meadows, "tiny forests" in cities and hillside schemes to cut flooding.
Whilst there is a lot of merit in bringing the collective clout of green organisations together (there does need to be more joined-up thinking), going "big" does not necessarily mean better (see the story below). More Government control and funding by corporate bodies often leads to "croneyism" and a lack of political activism. It seems to be a knee-jerk reaction for governments to come up with schemes that involve a large infrastructure, a new body to tackle something, without considering what already exists without reinvention. For example youth provision: setting up a large body with lots of big targets and funding, whilst grass-roots youth services who know their local areas are cut. Anyone who has worked with young people knows that locality plays a big factor in feelings of belonging amongst young people, and local knowledge is key to both providing support and preventing crime.
Considering that the call has come from a coalition, with some admirable aims to help "kick start the green economy", some reflection is needed upon the effect on all the smaller local community groups who contribute voluntary time and effort. There is a delicate balance between the positives of being able to offer "real paid jobs" in a sector which is sadly lacking in them, and the care, commitment and knowledge relating to certain areas that volunteers have.
EXAMPLE 2: HOW WILDLIFE CAMPAIGNERS ARE SUBVERTED
George Monbiot writes in the Guardian, Wednesday 24 June, concerning the involvement of some of the larger wildlife groups in a newly re-branded large housing project of over 1 million homes - twice the size of Birmingham - between Oxford and Cambridge. Monbiot explains that after a furious backlash against the original plans for an expressway, which were criticised by the wildlife organizations, these same organizations are now lending their support to something described as "Natures Arc" without having consulted local protest groups.
EXAMPLE 3: HACKNEY COUNCIL SLAMS AN INJUNCTION ON "HAPPY MAN" TREE PROTESTERS
Protesters have presented the Mayor of Hackney with a 22,000 signature petition to save the estimated 150-year-old plane tree from being cut down. The tree is in the way of the Berkeley Homes redevelopment scheme at the Woodberry Down Estate. Promises to create green space with new trees, with funding from the developer, are challenged by local people who love that tree and can't see why plans cannot be amended to keep it.
GREEN SPACE UNDER LOCKDOWN
Life-long Hackney resident and writer, Tamsin Ssembajjo Quigley, has written a thought-provoking piece on how lockdown is affecting her experience of local green space. This is another story provided by the now totally on-line Hackney Citizen - a fine example of independent journalism that is in dire need of funding. So if you can help support the continuation of this local newspaper, go to its webpage and use Paypal.
LIFE'S NOT ALWAYS A BEACH..
The seaside is not the only place to experience the lockdown hysteria of human gatherings which leave huge amounts of litter and damage. The area that has become known as "Hackney Beach" has seen further swimming and gathering in large groups. One popular activity has been swinging on a rope tied to a branch that overhangs the river, which resulted in one person getting seriously injured and having to go to hospital. So now the LVRPA has felled the whole tree. Clearly the people who congregate in this area are not concerned about the destruction of trees and disturbance to nesting kingfishers, any more than they are concerned about the foolishness of swimming in heavily polluted water. SLM hopes that people will support the campaign to get a proper wild swimming venue at the old Thames Waterworks site - see the new webpage at https://www.elwp.org.uk.
PREPARING FOR A GREEN RECOVERY
The Mayor of London and the Centre for London are organising an on-line event on Monday 29 June from 14.00 to 15.30 p.m. entitled "Coronavirus: Crisis and Recovery, Transport and Environment". Booking is via Eventbrite or go to https://centreforlondon.org/
TOWERS OF BABYLON..
SLM has an excellent new blog on our website - https://saveleamarshes.org.uk - concerning our objections to building on the old Gasworks in the Lea Bridge area, where more tower blocks are planned. The blog has illustrations of the recently built blocks that you can see sticking up all around Leyton, Walthamstow and Hackney Marshes, some of which featured as contenders for our "Blots on the Landscape" competition last year. SLM is most concerned about the loss of "openess" on the Metropolitan Open Space of the Lee Valley Park area, Hackney Marshes and Tottenham Marshes. Of the latter, we can inform you of a bit of positive news from the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority's Regeneration Committee meeting a few days ago, which was addressed by one of our members, concerning the LVRPA's attitude towards a development proposed for Tottenham, which will affect the openness of the park. LVRPA members decided to make an objection and go against the officer's recommendation.
The Waltham Forest Echo (another excellent local newspaper that is worth supporting) this week features coverage by James Cracknell of the Gasworks development site and of a similar proposal for the current Homebase site in Fulborne Road where, again, tower blocks of 17 and 18 storeys are planned. See https://www.walthamforestecho.
WALKING UNDER LOCKDOWN
Based near Epping Forest, Heather Wearing, walking/mindfulness coach and author, recently launched the "1 Million Women Walking" campaign to help women make walking central to their daily exercise and well-being. She is also asking for help to complete a four-minute on-line survey on how the lockdown has affected walking practices, so if you think you can help her campaign reach a million women take a look at https://bit.ly/
WHAT'S ON THE GREEN BOOK BENCH..
If you are wanting a good read:
- How Walking Saved My Life, by Heather Waring (see above), a personal account on how walking helped Heather regain health and well-being after burn-out. Available on Kindle and paperback through Amazon and soon to be available on Audio. See Heather's website https://www.
1MillionWomenWalking.com - Three books by Paul Wood on London's trees:
- London's Street Trees, A field
- London is a Forest
- Great Trees of London
Please note that The Guardian references might not come up through links. The items are there if you go to The Guardian wepage and search.
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