Help us oppose development affecting Grove Farm

FRIENDS OF GROVE FARM

ABOUT FRIENDS OF GROVE FARM

Community, Nature, Nurture

We are a community group bringing together people who love Grove Farm and want to support a green space where wildlife and the community can flourish.

Instagram feed

We are still fighting development on Grove Farm so please see links in our bio to understand how you can help us.

Join us this June for an adventure with Friends of Grove Farm! Whether it's a guided walk 🚶 or an activity day 🛠️, we’d love to see you at Grove Farm nature reserve! Link in Bio for our contact details.

#volunteers #createsomething #friendsofgrovefarm

🦡 BADGERS TO BE EVICTED TO MAKE WAY FOR PARK VIEW PLACE DEVELOPMENT

Badgers within Grove Farm's Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation (SINC) have built setts in and around the Park View Place development. If planning approval is granted for the development, the impacts suggested by their consultants will be:
• one sett will be permanently “lost” to allow construction of a tower
• a second sett right next to the boundary will be closed during building.
Possible risks are:
• “killing or injury of badgers”,
• “destruction of sett tunnels” and
• “retreat of the badger clan from the local area”

Badgers and their setts are protected in law under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992. The plan from the developers is to close the setts under licence as part of an exclusion exercise outside the breeding season, monitor that badgers don’t return and then demolish the targeted sett once “vacant”.

Add in brighter lighting from the development, disturbance along Coston Brook as well as the woodland edge and according to the developer’s own reports, there are risks to badgers post construction of:
• reduced breeding,
• being too scared to forage and
• the possible retreat of the local population altogether from the area.

To Grove Farm this a serious, risk to a protected species.

📢 If you care about badgers and Grove Farm Local Nature Reserve, please:
– Comment on the planning application – see link in bio for the process
– Sign our petition – see link in bio
– Share this post so more people can hear of this issue

Nature can’t speak for itself – but we can.

#friendsofgrovefarm #SaveGroveFarmSINC #badger #conservation

❄️ Keeping Our Cool in the Grove Farm’s Woods 🌳

On a blazing hot day, an intrepid crew from #FriendsOfGroveFarm and @goodgym_ealing worked along Coston’s Brook to create an access path for future conservation days. The group immediately were thankful for the cooler temperatures when working within the woodland. Forest Research report that trees can reduce local air temperatures by between 2 °C and 8 °C, so the team were very thankful for the shade and the evaporation of water from the leaves helping to keep things cooler.

Armed with loppers, hedge trimmers and saws, the team tackled brambles, nettles and hawthorn, making tough choices so that future access to treat some invasive species will be possible. Along the way the team spotted fungi (King Alfred’s cake) and even uncovered a mysterious Sainsbury’s bag full of discarded Barbie dolls!

There’s still more to do and the road to reach the treatment area will be long, so we’ll be back in June to finish the job.

Many thanks to Giovanni, Sevan, Steph, Kash, Livio, Portia and Rafael for all their help.

#Conservation #CommunityAction #WoodlandRestoration #NatureLovers

From awards to action: teaming up with Litter Legends LAGER Can again💚

Lovely to spend rime with our volunteers from #FriendsOfGroveFarm and #LAGERCan fresh from being named Litter Legend in the Great British Spring Clean awards. We tackled a smaller-than-usual fly-tip by the tube line. 🚮🌿

We did have to leave a new, massive fly-tip on the land where the drinkers usually congregate even our most dedicated litter-pickers have their limits. It’s been reported to the council. 📝

Best of all, we rounded things off with a catch-up at Brokengate Café, the community is what makes these mornings worth it. 💚

Many thanks to Cathy, Livio, Ed, Bharti and Jubilyn for volunteering.

#CommunityCleanup #LoveOurPlanet #DoGoodFeelGood #VolunteerLife

On our last conservation session volunteers from #FriendsOfGroveFarm and @goodgym_ealing gathered for a prickly but important task in the Grove Farm hazel patch.

A few years ago, we planted hazel saplings here. Around ten have successfully established and are now growing into young trees — but they’re still vulnerable. Brambles can quickly climb over them, bending and shading out the young trees. At the same time however, dense bramble growth can act like a natural shield, helping to protect the soil and roots from heat and drying out as our climate warms. To strike the right balance, we cut the brambles back from the hazels and reused the cuttings as a rough mulch around their bases, helping to protect the roots, keep moisture in, and give the trees space to grow.

The volunteers including runners, walkers got straight to work armed with loppers, saws, rakes, and plenty of determination clearing brambles, nettles, and competing scrub. Carefully freeing hazel saplings and building protective piles around their bases, the team also kept a watchful eye out for wildlife such as slow worms and bird’s nests.

It was a proper workout with a purpose: scratched legs, clear paths, and a big win for biodiversity and woodland management.

Huge thanks to Danny, Kat, Sevan, Kash, Thaiza, Shubham, Ash, Christos, Steph and Portia.

#Conservation #CommunityAction #WoodlandManagement #NatureRecovery

Join us this May for an adventure with Friends of Grove Farm! Whether it's an activity day 🛠️, a litter pick or coming along to our Photography Salon (see our Eventbrite) we’d love to see you at Grove Farm nature reserve! Link in Bio for our contact details.

#naturelover #conservation #friendsofgrovefarm #NaturePhotographers #Ealing

.pro-gallery-wix-wrapper {display: block !important;} .pro-gallery-wix-wrapper .gallery-item-container {opacity: 1 !important; display: block !important;}

FRIENDS OF GROVE FARM

ABOUT FRIENDS OF GROVE FARM

Instagram feed

​