From Wild CookhamWe are seeking your help in commenting on the plans submitted by the Royal Borough for the future of Battlemead, the land acquired by the council last year. There is now a planning application which seeks to redesignate the land from agricultural (which it has been for many decades, indeed centuries) to a classification called D2 which makes the site a public amenity. You can see the application and maps on the RBWM planning portal: the application number is 19/00972.
This note is to invite you to send comments to the Council before the deadline this Friday, 9th August. They will take later comments but the sooner you get this done the better. Details of how to comment are at the end of this email.
We have one principal objection. The Council should not apply for change of use of the land until decisions on its future use have been reached by proper process. The Council formed the Friends of Battlemead to advise on this and there is yet to be any decision from this. The Council is applying urgency to this precious piece of land when it does not need to. Only when there is a clear plan should they submit their plans for the future use of the land which may or may not require a D2 designation. You can send in a comment in your own words based on this one reason and that would be great: the key thing is to comment.
Some further reasons for objection are set out below. Please feel free to draw on them and/or to make your own comments to the Council. Superficially there may seem to be no harm in having the land turned into a public amenity: however we are concerned that, if this plan goes through, it will be very difficult to have a meaningful discussion about the true wildlife potential of the land.
In summary the plans allow for a new car park with space for 30 cars, a criss-cross of footpaths across two of the fields and extensive fencing. One large field will be closed off to public access for the time being. The plans have been through changes since first submitted due to errors in the plans and to changes made following objections by various bodies including WildCookham and Wild Maidenhead. Our concerns include:
The special quality of the land, so close to a centre of population, offers an exceptional wildlife and wild habitat asset to the local population, at a time when the Council and many authorities are emphasising the Environment and Climate Emergency we face (the Council itself voted unanimously to declare such an Emergency in June), when farmland bird populations have fallen by around 60% in the past 40 years and insect populations have plummeted by up to 75% in a shorter period, and wildflower meadows have reduced by 97% in the past 70 years.
There is scope to make the whole area a reserve for nature which can still be enjoyed by local people. But allowing this application, and the immediate use of the land for public walking, including dogs, is likely to make discussion about this option impossible.
The plans for footpaths across two of the three fields will allow people and dogs (including professional dog walkers) to disturb existing wildlife and make any efforts to encourage more wildlife impossible. The environmental damage will be done to the ‘public access’ part of the site with likely knock-on impacts on the restricted field alongside the Thames.
There is plenty of open space for walkers and dog walkers nearby – across Widbrook Common to the Green Way and along the Thames Path.
The current application includes a variety of paths across the fields which meet the criteria for designation of the land as a SANG (Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace). However, Natural England, which makes these designations, has stated that this will not be happening so why does the plan still assume this?
The Council, under its own planning policy guidelines (NR3) has to show a net biodiversity gain for such a development. We have seen no evidence of any metric-based assessment of the likely biodiversity impact undertaken by the Council.
Be aware that WildCookham is not objecting to the creation of a footpath along the Battlemead perimeter linking the Thames Path to Widbrook Common and the network of paths from there: the path following the northern perimeter was, in fact, suggested by WildCookham and Wild Maidenhead.
If you wish to comment on the plan you can do so on their website via this link . Click on the Comments tab on the page for this application and you will see how to make a comment. Or you can send an email to
planning@rbwm.gov.uk, quoting the application number (19/00972). But you need to move fast - and we're sorry that this is coming to you at such short notice.
Thanks for any support you can give to this.
