Warren Farm Formally Declared a Local Nature Reserve
Fifteen-year campaign by local conservationists ends in success
Ealing Council Leader Peter Mason (left) and Cabinet Member for Thriving Communities Blerina Hashani (right) present the Local Nature Reserve declaration to Katie Boyles, Chair of the Brent River Park charity (centre) and members of the Warren Farm Nature Reserve campaign. Picture: Ealing Council)
March 10, 2026
A long campaign by local conservationists has ended in success with the official designation of Warren Farm as a Local Nature Reserve.
Ealing Council made the formal declaration this Monday (9 March) granting statutory protection to 24.8 hectares of rewilded grassland and wildflower meadow in Southall with adjoining land earmarked for community sports facilities. The designation, which has been in preparation since the council's cabinet approved it in principle in March 2024, was welcomed by conservation groups and local campaigners who have been fighting to protect the site for more than fifteen years.
The legal declaration recognises Warren Farm's exceptional ecological value. The site hosts a quarter of London's entire breeding population of skylarks — a red-listed species of conservation concern that nests on the ground — alongside barn owls, little owls and kestrels. Four species of hairstreak butterfly have been recorded there, as has copse bindweed, a plant facing extinction in the UK that survives in only two locations across London.
A Local Nature Reserve designation, made under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949, gives local authorities the power to protect, manage and enhance high-value natural habitats and to secure them from development. Natural England has been formally notified of the Ealing declaration, and a draft management plan has been prepared by the council's parks team working alongside local naturalists and conservationists. The plan will guide the long-term protection and enhancement of the reserve.
The site had lain derelict for fifteen years after its previous use as a sports ground came to an end. In that time, rewilding transformed it into a mosaic of grassland and meadow habitats. A public consultation carried out by the council in 2022 drew more than 1,500 responses, with 70 per cent of respondents calling for the land to be preserved for nature — though many also expressed support for some form of sports provision.
The council has simultaneously announced an agreement with Imperial College London and Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, who co-own land adjoining the nature reserve, for that site to be developed as a new community sports facility. Facilities are expected to focus primarily on cricket and football pitches. Ealing Council said it is currently in discussion with a preferred contractor to manage the site.
The dual announcement reflects the council's attempt to balance the competing demands that emerged from the 2022 consultation. Councillor Blerina Hashani, Ealing's cabinet member for thriving communities, said the combination of nature reserve and sports facilities offered residents the best of both worlds. Southall, she noted, is an area with significant health inequalities, and both active recreation and access to nature have established health benefits.
In a joint statement, Alice Sewell, investment director at Imperial College London, and Professor Bob Klaber, director of strategy, research and innovation at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said they were pleased to support the proposals and hoped the plans would create opportunities for residents to be active while protecting the green space for local wildlife.
The Brent River Park charity, which leads the management of the wider 7km Brent River Park running through Ealing and Hounslow, formally launched its campaign for Local Nature Reserve status at Warren Farm in January 2021. But the broader effort to protect the site stretches back more than fifteen years, through multiple planning threats and ownership changes.
The campaign attracted more than 26,000 petition signatories, alongside statements of support from national and local conservation organisations. Katie Boyles, chair of the Brent River Park charity and the campaign's lead organiser, described the designation as a historic moment for Ealing and London's environmental conservation. She paid tribute to volunteers, naturalists, and the many groups that contributed over what she described as something that became less a campaign and more a movement.
"Now when we hear our skylarks sing, the fear of losing them has been replaced with the joy of knowing their home is safeguarded," Boyles said. "Turns out, when you hear a skylark sing for the first time, you want to ensure it's not your last."
Ealing Council leader Councillor Peter Mason described the reserve as a much-needed green lung for the area, and said Warren Farm would form a key part of the emerging West London Regional Park — a connected series of green spaces and waterways stretching through Ealing and Hounslow.
The Liberal Democrats believe they should also get some of the credit for this outcome having consistently campaigned for it over several years. Group leader Cllr. 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.”
Cllr Gary Malcolm high-fiving with Katie Boyles
With the spring breeding season underway, the Brent River Park charity is asking visitors to keep to the main paths between 1 March and 15 September and to keep dogs under close control. Skylarks nest on the ground, and well-intentioned short-cuts through the grassland can destroy eggs and chicks. Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, interfering with an active bird's nest is a criminal offence. The council plans to introduce site byelaws to provide additional protection for the species.
Warren Farm Meadow
The designation does not yet extend to all the land the charity had originally hoped to include. Two privately-owned meadows — the Earl of Jersey's Field and land belonging to Imperial College — remain outside the nature reserve boundary. The charity acknowledges the need for sports provision on the Imperial College land, but says it is working with Ealing Council to mitigate the impact of the proposed sports facility on the new reserve.
Separately, the council has confirmed its intention to pursue Local Nature Reserve designations for four further meadows to the east of Warren Farm: Trumper's Field, Jubilee Meadow, Blackberry Corner and Fox Meadow. The council first stated this intention at a cabinet meeting in July 2003, and reaffirmed it as recently as January 2023. With less than two per cent of the UK's meadow habitats remaining, conservationists regard the additional designations as an important next step.
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