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Search Results for: Peter Alfrey
SPECIAL OFFER: Take a walk on the wild side with Peter Alfrey
Inside Croydon is delighted to team up with noted local conservationist Peter Alfrey for our next guided walk, a midsummer wildlife ramble, on the morning of Sunday, June 23. We will spend a couple of hours exploring one of the … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Inside Croydon, Outside Croydon, Peter Alfrey, Walks, Wildlife
Tagged Peter Alfrey, Walks
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It’s time to re-set our approach to Beddington’s nature reserve
CROYDON COMMENTARY: The threat of enforcement action against incinerator operators Viridor, and the waste management company, Valencia that now runs the former landfill site at Beddington, is too little and much too late, says conservationist PETER ALFREY Together with other … Continue reading
Beddington’s ‘blue space’ could boost NHS mental health care
A conservation activist who spent more than a decade fighting for improved recognition and investment in the Beddington Farmlands nature reserve has greeted a report from the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust that “prescribes” nature for improved mental health as “a … Continue reading
CPRE tells Mayor Khan to make Farmlands a new public park
Beddington Farmlands, the site of disused 20th-century landfill and sewage works, should be turned into one of 10 new parks for London, according to an environmentalist charity. The Campaign for Preservation of Rural England has picked the wildlife-rich but sometimes … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, London Assembly, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Sutton Council, Waste incinerator, Wildlife
Tagged Beddington, Beddington Farmlands, Beddington Lane incinerator, Campaign for Preservation of Rural England, CPRE, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, Sutton Council, Thames Water, Viridor
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Did We Have News For You: council’s 2020 financial crash
As 2020 moved through May to August, the local authority had more than the coronavirus to cope with, as the pandemic exposed the authority’s shaky financial position. And Inside Croydon led in its coverage of the cash-strapped Town Hall. Here’s … Continue reading
MP challenges Viridor over its management of wildlife reserve
A Member of Parliament has intervened over the serious damage to the wildlife habitat and the destruction of one of London’s largest nesting colonies of house sparrows, following reports of the ecological calamity by Inside Croydon. Elliot Colburn was elected … Continue reading
Plea to council for action as birds slaughtered at nature reserve
Viridor, the operators of the polluting waste incinerator at Beddington Lane, have been accused of allowing an environmental slaughter in the neighbouring wetland nature reserve which they are supposed to manage. Nesting pairs of endangered bird species have been disturbed … Continue reading
Beddington Farmlands come alive as wildlife winter wonderland
The cold fingers of winter might be touching us as we head into November, but as local naturalist PETER ALFREY observes, the wildlife sanctuary at Beddington Farmlands is full of life Following lots of rain and the recent habitat improvements … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Peter Alfrey, Waste incinerator, Wildlife
Tagged Beddington Farmlands, Beddington Lane incinerator, Peter Alfrey, Viridor
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READER OFFER: Save £££s on tickets for Croydon Bach Choir
Inside Croydon is delighted to be able to offer another great money-saving offer to our loyal reader. Subscribers can save £5 for each ticket that they book for the Croydon Bach Choir concert in Addiscombe on June 29. The acclaimed … Continue reading
Protestors meet Greta Thunberg and bring XR closer to home
At least two local residents were arrested in the past week as part of the Extinction Rebellion demonstrations across central London, which saw members of a group from Sutton meet Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teenager who has captured the attention … Continue reading
Industrialisation of Beddington reserve is killing off wildlife
PAUL LUSHION, our environment correspondent, reports on how a 6,000-signature petition is about to be handed to a council leader demanding that they do their job to protect south London’s biggest nature reserve The Beddington Farmlands nature reserve, just the … Continue reading
RSPB investigation launched after two Wandle egrets killed
Wildlife wardens from the RSPB are investigating what one conservationist has described as “an unusual cluster” of two dead and one injured little egrets from the River Wandle and Beddington Farmlands in the past week. The birds do not appear … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon parks, Environment, Peter Alfrey, Wildlife
Tagged Beddington, Beddington Farmlands, Peter Alfrey, River Wandle, RSPB
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Viridor allowed to give ‘absurd’ name to incinerator road
BELLE MONT, our Sutton reporter, on how the council has opted to name the service road to the Beddington Lane incinerator after a bird species that has been almost wiped out locally, in part, at least, as a consequence of … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Environment, London-wide issues, Mayor of London, Merton, Nick Mattey, Refuse collection, Ruth Dombey, Sadiq Khan, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP, Waste incinerator, Wildlife
Tagged Beddington Farmlands, Beddington Lane incinerator, John Drage, Liberal Democrats, London Assembly, Mayor, Nick Mattey, Peter Alfrey, Ruth Dombey, Sadiq Khan, South London Waste Partnership, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP, Viridor
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Lambert: ‘Disgrace’ of Sutton’s destruction of green spaces
Thanks to Brexit, MEPs are now an endangered species. Tomorrow morning one of them, Jean Lambert, London’s Green Party representative to the European Parliament, will be visiting the River Wandle in Beddington to highlight the plight of local wildlife and … Continue reading
Birdwatchers cock-a-hoopoe over rare sighting at Beddington
Bird watchers and naturalists lit up social media at the weekend after a sighting of a hoopoe at a reserve in south London. It was the first confirmed sighting for 50 years at Beddington Farmlands nature reserve of the bird, … Continue reading
Posted in Environment, Peter Alfrey, Wildlife
Tagged Beddington Farmlands, Hoopoe, Peter Alfrey
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Sutton official in bid to oust conservationist from science group
BELLE MONT reports on an attempt by a council official to intimidate an environmentalist’s opposition to Viridor’s poor performance over the Beddington wetlands A senior council official responsible for Sutton’s environmental policy is demanding that a local conservationist should quit … Continue reading
Enforcement officer is sent in over neglect of wildlife reserve
A south London council has been forced to appoint an enforcement officer to check on the environmental work which Viridor is supposed to be doing at Beddington Farmlands. The appointment comes more than two years after the Local Government Ombudsman … Continue reading
How you can fight the Beast from the East in your garden
NATURE NOTES: You can turn your garden into a vital refuge from the cold snap for local wildlife, writes PETER ALFREY The Beast from the East is taking a fierce bite at our local wildlife, just when they are at … Continue reading
Viridor highlights homeless owls as they claim wildlife success
Incinerator operators Viridor have outraged local conservationists with their latest publicity, which has been described as “misinformation” over the status of the habitat and the various wildlife species that live around Beddington Farmlands. Viridor has a £1billion contract from the … Continue reading
Viridor getting twitchy as thousands sign twitchers’ petition
Our Sutton reporter, BELLE MONT, on a multi-billion corporation which has started meddling in local politics, again Viridor, as they prime themselves to fire up next year their vast incinerator at Beddington Lane, appear to be getting more concerned over … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Environment, London-wide issues, Merton, Outside Croydon, Peter Alfrey, Refuse collection, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Veolia, Waste incinerator, Wildlife
Tagged Beddington Farmlands, Beddington Lane incinerator, Peter Alfrey, Ruth Dombey, Sutton Council, Veolia, Viridor
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Look up – don’t miss the migration motorway overhead
NATURE NOTES: As we head into November, with the nights closing in, PETER ALFREY, the ‘Birdman of Beddington’, suggests what to look for in your parks and open spaces, and how to provide wildlife with some help into the winter … Continue reading
Arrival of cattle is the latest sign that winter is coming
NATURE NOTES: The parks and open spaces in and around Croydon are undergoing the annual, melancholy change, writes STEVEN DOWNES It always seemed that the end of summer was marked by the staging of the Last Night of the Proms. … Continue reading
Posted in Croydon parks, Environment
Tagged Roundshaw Downs, Sussex cattlle, The Downlands Project
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Viridor panel refuses grants to Beddington community groups
A £1million ‘hush fund’ announced for community groups by incinerator operators is being used to try to subdue local opposition, according to one activist. BELLE MONT reports Viridor, which has a £1billion public contract to operate the incinerator at Beddington … Continue reading
Posted in Business, Community associations, Croydon Council, Environment, Nick Mattey, Refuse collection, Sutton Council, Tom Brake MP, Waste incinerator, Wildlife
Tagged Beddington Farmlands, Beddington Lane, Beddington Lane incinerator, Conservative, Croydon, Croydon Council, Liberal Democrats, London, Sutton, Tory, Viridor
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Incinerator operator sends threatening letter to bird watcher
An environmentalist who has worked for more than a decade on the Beddington Farmlands site, monitoring the wildlife in an area which was supposed to be transformed into a nature reserve, has been sent a threatening letter by incinerator operators … Continue reading
