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Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!

Massive habitat destrcution planned by Network Rail - Finsbury Pk to Ally Pally (June to March next year)

HABITAT DESTRUCTION - COME TO PUBLIC MEETING ON JUNE 6TH in Hornsey.

Letters through the door today, Network Rail are going to be clearing the railway lines of 21 feet (6+metres and beyond) of trees/vegetation from next month to MARCH 2025 from Finbsury Pk to Ally Pally.

Be warned, this is going to decimate a corridor of nature habitat, wildlife, birds, insects, amphibians, smaller mammals, hedgehogs, fox homes, squirrels all along this mile or so stretch of line.

This is also in nesting season (March to August) and should be delayed!

Network rail doesn't have good form at ecology protection. https://community.rspb.org.uk/ourwork/b/martinharper/posts/good-new...

Please come to their PUBLIC MEETING on Thursday 6 June from 5-7pm at the YMCA Harringay Club in Hornsey (on the corner of  Ribblesdale Road).

There is also an online meeting on Tuesday 4th June on this link https://t.ly/PGMYG

Tags for Forum Posts: biodiversity, network rail, trees

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Permalink Reply by Giovanna iozzi on June 11, 2024 at 19:55

sorry, meant to upload PICTURE OF MAIN BAT ACTIVITY AREAS IN fInsbury park, very near to rail track. This was conducted by an ecology consultancy called MKA I think in last two years about where most intense bat activity is in Finsbury Park. We did a bat reccy on Sunday night and saw and heard bats flying over from the rail track side to different parts of the park, leading us to suromise that bat roosts are likely to be in the trackside. This will all be destroyed.

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on June 12, 2024 at 10:24

Hi Giovanna, I admire your passion for this issue, but I can't help feeling that any sustained action on this type of issue might be best achieved if the Council and its influence can be brought to bear.

It may well not be news to you, but I see that Haringey have had a Biodiversity Action Plan (appended below) for some time now, though I am unclear as to its status, efficacy or 'ownership'.

Page 2 has the following,

The ‘Biodiversity Duty’ of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006 requires that ‘every public authority must, in exercising its functions, have regard, so far as is consistent with the proper exercise of those functions, to the purpose of conserving biodiversity’.

This Biodiversity Action Plan is the mechanism by which Haringey Council aims to fulfil its ‘Biodiversity Duty’ by highlighting priorities and opportunities for protecting and enhancing the borough’s biodiversity.

On page 6 is a map showing that the railway, incorrectly marked a "Parkland Walk" has a status as an 'Ecological Corridor'.

From what I can gather, the plan seems to be 'owned' by Cllr. Emily Arkell with her responsibilities as Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities and Leisure. It may (or may not) be worth establishing more about its applicability to your current campaign. There are others on here who are far better placed than I to comment. Whilst the Council can be glacially slow and frustratingly inert, that's not always the case and there are pockets of passion within it. You may be in luck and find a passionate confederate within Haringey Council. In addition to allowing you to call on the wherewithal of an organisation that is better equipped to deal with Network Rail, working within the framework of the BAP offers the weight of an 'official' document, sets the issue in a broader context and enables a broader set of factors to be brought into consideration.

Haringey Biodiversity Action Plan July 2023

Permalink Reply by Dick Harris on June 12, 2024 at 10:29

Perhaps the "ownership" is not as clear as it might be.  According to Haringey's web-site:

Mike Hakata  -  Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Environment, and Transport and Deputy Leader of the Council  -  is responsible for:

  • climate action unit
  • strategic transport
  • air pollution
  • liveable neighbourhoods, and school and play streets
  • urban greening and biodiversity
  • local renewable energy
  • sustainability and decarbonisation
  • circular economy
  • Vision Zero (jointly with Cabinet Member for Resident Services and Tackling Inequality).
Permalink Reply by Hugh on June 12, 2024 at 10:32

Absolutely: it's far from clear. I alighted on Cllr Arkell after finding this article on Haringey's website. I've already written her to check whether I've surmised correctly. 

Permalink Reply by Giovanna iozzi on June 12, 2024 at 10:49

Thanks Hugh, I have contacted Mike Hakata, ward councillors but not Emily A yet.

Not sure how the council's BAP will have an effect on the so far deaf ears of Network Rail or how this might legally challenge/intersect with their own BAP or Nature Plan, as far as I know this is private land, and that's the main problem. We will not be able to see what they are doing close up or what they find, other than from bridges or gardens. But the rail side is a nature corridor as they well know and will be important for other connecting wildlife corridors.

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