| Topic: | Total destruction of rare birdlife and wildlife in Gunnersbury Park | |
| Posted by: | Raymond Havelock | |
| Date/Time: | 29/07/18 16:40:00 |
| Absolutely appalled to find that the Site for the recent events in Gunnersbury park was permitted in much of the area that contained some of the finest tree specimens in the district and some of the rarest birdlife and wildlife.. This was the former pitch and putt area and the fact that both golfing etiquette and bye-law rules prohibited dogs and other items into the area kept this area pristine from little more than lost golf balls, for many decades. This has allowed the maintained but unadulterated ground to remain in very good condition. It was not uncommon to see what looked like snakes in the rough but were actually Brahminy Blind Snakes and Slow Worms and sometimes Lizards. Going right back to summer holidays in the late 1970s, these were prized finds when playing pitch and putt. As were seeing woodpeckers, and all manner of not so common birds.. But since the golf course was opened up to walkers and dogs, and the undergrowth turned to weeds and convolves the species have been scared and scavenged away. But the damage from noise, the overflowing of dozens of urinals and the compression of already dried and dusty ground has left the site now contaminated and damaged to such a degree, my RSPB director friend who showed me around says it will take up to 20 years for the site to recover and thats assuming it will never be disturbed in such a way again. Nesting birds have left and the early mornings are now silent. So the pontificating hypocrite that is Julian Bell, who makes big claims about being an environmentalist, has managed to do more environmental damage in one weekend than aircraft and vehicles have managed in 50 years. I hope he and his acolytes and green supporters as well as our slightly less reckless representatives here will ask the right questions and get the right answers and explain how destroying the local ecology of a public park is justifiable for its fiscal upkeep? I cannot tell you how, in an era of endless 'concerns' about our environment this highlights what absolute double standards are being peddled out as a front for salaries for the incompetent clique whose noses are well in the trough. And Fake News? Press releases from local authorities ought to be the starting point for any clampdown and honest answers to questions rather than the same old cooked up spin. |