The Save Gurnell site is reporting two new proposals from Ealing council for the leisure centre. One of these involves wholesale relocation of the centre to Longfield meadows (a site of importance for nature conservation, or SINC), as shown in the plan below. This follows an earlier proposal to relocate just the BMX track to a portion of this meadow, which was withdrawn last year. Longfield meadows are part of what we call the “Greater Perivale Park”.
This meadow, designated as Metropolitan Open Land (MOL), was the site which we assessed as high in Biodiversity a few years back (see here, here and here). The site is also part of the Gurnell to Greenford Greenway project, a re-greening of the area which has made a stupendous difference to our local environment (see for example here) and which played such an important role during the recent COVID lockdowns. As we saw for ourselves, the area is also an important bat habitat.
In the plan above, the meadow in its entirety is designated as “leisure”. Save Gurnell have written a letter to the Gurnell Leisure Centre Sounding Board indicating their concerns with both proposals, which is well worth a read. More information is also available here.
We will no doubt be hearing much more about these proposals over the next few months and years. But having seen our local park and environment so greatly enhanced in terms of nature in the last 4-5 years, we must now fight to keep these improvements, and not watch them lost to building works and car parks.
Totally preposterous idea! The sort of madness the new prime minister wants to inflict on so many wonderful green spaces. Agree wholeheartedly with your words, Henry.