Wildlife Circus

  Cambridge Road Estate is going through the final consultation stage before a planning application in the Autumn. As it is 7.71 ha it a large-scale application, which will affect the whole borough.  The countless blocks will be up to 13 storeys. Yet it is in an Area of Deficiency as defined by the Mayor, who has actually pledged not to increase the numbers of people living in an AoD (more than 1km from open space) demonstrated by the area coloured purple on the map above. Biodiversity The London Plan includes an important policy (7.19) Biodiversity and Access to Nature, which links to policies and proposals on approaches to strategic planning in the Mayor’s Biodiversity Strategy. Policy 7.19 contains the following statement; The Mayor’s Biodiversity Strategy sets out criteria and procedures for identifying land of importance for London’s biodiversity for protection in LDFs and identifying areas of deficiency in access to nature. Protecting the sites at all levels, ser...

    New developments around the Cambridge Road Estate have not only erased any pre-existing 'nature' but made it virtually impossible for any new colonisation, except perhaps by pigeons. There are borough policies to prevent this happening, but no one seems to know where to find them, yet alone understand them;  our officers seem too embarrassed to implement a 'no net loss of biodiversity' policy, let alone achieve the borough's aspiration of 'Net Gain'. When Natural England attempted to give our planning officers a lunchtime training session - which would have counted towards their continuing professional development (CPD) - no one actually turned up. Key: Ppip common pipistrelle Ppyg soprano pip.   This does not bode well for the redevelopment of the Cambridge Road Estate (CRE). The site is full of wildlife, demonstrated by the bird song in the early Spring mornings. Listen to these recordings on Soundcloud here: Sparrows of Willingham Way . Keep l...