Warren Farm in Southall has been formally declared a Local Nature Reserve by Ealing Council, making the rewilded former sports ground London’s newest protected nature area.
The council said the 24.8-hectare site, formerly Warren Farm Sports Ground, has been largely derelict for about 15 years and has gradually rewilded into grassland habitat supporting skylarks, wildflowers, butterflies and bees.
The move follows years of debate over the future of the former playing fields. Earlier proposals by Ealing Council to redevelop the site as a sports complex prompted opposition from residents and conservation groups, who argued the naturally regenerated meadow had become one of west London’s most important urban wildlife habitats.
Campaigners for the proposed Warren Farm Nature Reserve launched a petition in 2021 calling for the site to be protected. More than 26,000 people signed it, urging the council to preserve the rewilded land and designate Warren Farm as a nature reserve.
Alongside the declaration, the council said it had reached agreement with Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust for community sports facilities on adjoining land. The new site is expected to include mainly cricket and football pitches, with the council currently in discussions with a preferred contractor to run them.
The reserve sits within Brent River Park, a seven-kilometre corridor of green spaces following the River Brent through west London. The charity behind the park has campaigned for years to see Warren Farm formally protected.
Katie Boyles, chair of Brent River Park and organiser of the Warren Farm Nature Reserve campaign, said: “We are delighted to share in the news that Ealing Council has now formally declared the entire 24.8 hectares of Warren Farm Nature Reserve as an official Local Nature Reserve. Our charity launched this campaign back in January 2021. At that time, we were emerging from Covid lockdown, and people were discovering and taking comfort in the wonders of nature and wildlife on their doorstep in the Brent River Park.
“Our rewilded urban meadow has become a place of solace for our community and we are pleased that the centrepiece of our vision of connected meadow habitats is now officially recognised as a Local Nature Reserve.
“A heartfelt thank-you to our 26,000-plus petition signatories, our volunteers, our local experts and national conservationists who wrote statements of support, and the many national and local groups that have been with us all the way. We would not have achieved this biodiversity boost without you.”
The meadow is home to around a quarter of London’s breeding skylark population, a red-listed ground-nesting bird of conservation concern. Other wildlife recorded at the site includes birds of prey such as barn owls, little owls and kestrels, as well as several species of hairstreak butterfly.
Visitors are being asked to keep to the main paths during the skylark breeding season, from March to mid-September, and to keep dogs under close control to help protect nests and young birds.
Conservationists have also identified copse bindweed at Warren Farm, a rare plant facing extinction in the UK and found at only two locations in London.
Councillor Blerina Hashani, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for thriving communities, said: “It has long been the council’s vision that we support the widest possible range of leisure and recreation for residents. Southall is a town with substantial health inequalities, and the combination of community sports facilities and nature reserve gives us the best of both worlds.”
Councillor Peter Mason, leader of Ealing Council, said: “This declaration establishes a much-needed green lung for this part of the borough.”
Alice Sewell, investment director at Imperial College London, and Prof Bob Klaber, director of strategy, research and innovation at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said jointly: “As co-owners of land at Warren Farm, Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust are pleased to support plans for a Local Nature Reserve at Warren Farm, alongside new community sports facilities on the adjoining site. We hope this will support people’s health and wellbeing by creating more opportunities for residents to be active and help protect and enhance this important green space for local wildlife.”
Natural England has been notified of the declaration and a draft management plan has been prepared by the council’s parks team in partnership with local naturalists and conservationists to guide the protection and enhancement of the reserve.
Warren Farm is also expected to form part of the proposed West London Regional Park, a network of connected green spaces and waterways stretching through Ealing and Hounslow.
The Brent River Park charity is also working with the council on plans to designate several nearby meadows — including Trumper’s Field, Jubilee Meadow, Blackberry Corner and Fox Meadow — as Local Nature Reserves in future, as part of a wider effort to restore meadow habitat in west London.
Following the announcement of Warren Farm becoming a nature reserve, leader of Ealing Liberal Democrats, Councillor Gary Malcolm, said: “Since 2022 the Liberal Democrats have had to undertake many actions to ensure that Ealing Labour did not change its plans. We are glad that the 26,000 Warren Farm petitioners will get a full-sized Warren Farm Nature Reserve.
“Warren Farm is such a wonderful asset, and we need to make sure it is fully protected so it can help improve our air quality and range of nature in Ealing. I would like to put on record the wonderful work that the Warren Farm campaigners have put in to win this battle and manage the land to ensure it is in perfect condition for those who walk on Warren Farm. I am sure many people will raise a glass to thank all the volunteers of Warren Farm.”
