Tag Archives: Beddington Farmlands
After a decade of delay, Sutton condemns Viridor. Sort of
Our environment correspondent, PAUL LUSHION, on a planning authority’s enforcement action coming far too late to save what was supposed to be south London’s biggest nature reserve, where endangered species have been allowed to become extinct Sutton Council, after more … Continue reading
Viridor’s charge sheet: incinerator operator’s eco-vandalism
This is the damning litany of charges now facing Valencia, the shell company established by Viridor to take the rap for more than a decade of failures to deliver on the relatively modest terms agreed in return for their original … Continue reading
River from Tory Philp’s constituency runs brown with sewage
Within a day of Thames Water imposing a hosepipe ban on London and the south-east, the company was caught pumping raw sewage into the River Wandle, and a Croydon MP wrote to the company accusing it of turning a parkland … 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
Dombey’s dodgy LibDems’ handbrake turn over dirty diesel
Viridor and Ruth Dombey’s dodgy Liberal Democrats are so worried about the latest attempts to increase the volume of rubbish burned at the Beddington Lane incinerator, and the use of vast amounts of dirty diesel to do so, that they … Continue reading
All Croydon parks ‘under threat’ says environmental campaign
A shocking report from charity CPRE London highlights how the council’s Local Plan has put every open space in the borough at risk from development, writes PAUL LUSHION, our environment correspondent Croydon, and its planning protection-lite revised Local Plan, has … Continue reading
Eagles fan becomes first to spot real-life eagle at Beddington
A national rewilding project working with the largest bird of prey native to the British Isles has confirmed another sighting of one of these spectacular birds in this part of south London. IAN JONES was in the right place to … 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
White stork spreads its wings to touch down at Beddington
Bird watchers have been flocking (sorry) to Beddington Farmlands nature reserve this week after a white stork was spotted there. White storks are associated in folklore with delivering new-born babies and bringing good luck, but the species has been extinct … Continue reading
Save the Lapwings walk, Beddington Farmlands, Aug 29
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
Beddington Farmlands council demonstration, Sutton, Oct 8
Incinerator on security lockdown as Viridor get twitchy over XR
Viridor had their £210million Beddington Lane incinerator plant on security lockdown yesterday, apparently out of fear of incursions from… local birdwatchers. The controversial and troubled Viridor incinerator is already nine months late in being fully operational to meet the terms … 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
Put the bunting out: Sutton drops incinerator lane name plan
Our Sutton reporter, BELLE MONT, on a sudden council U-turn Sutton Council has backed down over its decision to name the access road to the Viridor incinerator in Beddington as “Corn Bunting Lane”. The LibDem-controlled council announced the U-turn this … 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
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
Hackbridge residents asked to take part in plan referendum
Sutton Council is running a community referendum this month on The Hackbridge and Beddington Corner Neighbourhood Development Group (pause for breath…) neighbourhood plan. The Hackbridge and Beddington Corner Neighbourhood Development Group (pause for breath…) was set up in November 2011 … Continue reading
Report ignored incinerator when assessing school air quality
Our environment correspondent, PAUL LUSHION, on this week’s opening of the Viridor Incinerator Academy, a primary for four- to 11-year-olds, that could literally take their breath away Reports this week from China have offered scientific evidence that air pollution causes … 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
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
Sutton’s latest horror: the Beddington chainsaw massacre
Sutton LibDems’ ‘green’ credentials have been exposed again as bogus, as they have ordered the destruction of hundreds of trees in a nature reserve, just when the wild birds are nesting for spring. BELLE MONT reports More despair looms for … 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
