Wildlife site in South Tottenham saved for now

Proposed development of housing at Ermine Road and Plevna Crescent N15 HGY/2012/2241

The Council has rejected a planning application to build flats on existing open green space in South Tottenham, on the "triangles" of land formed by the crossing of the railway lines from Stamford Hill to Seven Sisters and South Tottenham to Green Lanes.

The developer has tried several times to get planning permission for this site, and has been rejected. The Council has rejected this application. The problem is, the developer has bought the site from Network Rail and is anxious to recoup its investment. How can we get it safely back into public ownership?

Below are the reasons we gave the Council for rejecting the development:

1. Wildlife value
The site forms part of a significant area of open land formed by the crossing of the two railway lands. Larger patches of green space with varied habitats including trees, scrub and rough grassland are quite rare in Haringey (Tottenham Marshes is one of the few others). The site is connected by the railway lines forming a green wildlife corridor, connecting east-west to the St Ann's site ad eastwards to Markfield and the railway triangle there, and the Lea Valley and reservoirs beyond.

We are not aware of any detailed studies of the site (certainly not the applicant's - see below). But we know that in spring and summer many birds nest and/or feed on the site -Great Spotted Woodpeckers, and warblers including Whitethroats, Chiffchaffs and Blackcaps. In summer a number of dragonfly species have been observed including Emperors, Brown Hawkers, Common Darters and Blue Damselflies, as well as butterflies including Speckled Wood and Common Blue. In autumn and winter the hawthorn berries provide food for Blackbirds and other species.

Foxes use the site and may have dens there. There are House Sparrows in neighbouring streets. These have declined drastically in recent years. It is possible that they use the site for feeding.

2. Poor quality of the application
The applicant's biodiversity study is very thin on evidence. It was carried out in 2010 as part of a previous rejected application. The actual evidence from the site seems to have been gathered on one site visit in October.

The study is so poor that it does not even mention Haringey's Biodiversity Action Plan - only the GLA's BAP. It gives the impression of having been written by cutting and pasting from a standard format with very little local information.

It argues that the site has little biodiversity value and can be developed. But this is based on the logic that says only sites with special nationally protected species or national designations should be protected, and everything else can be built on. It is precisely this logic that has allowed the steady erosion of sites of importance for nature conservation. We know that much or our wildlife is in drastic decline.

The proposed development would it is true leave the strips of trees along the railway embankments but the open space would be fragmented and what makes it unusual, the mix of rough grassland, scrub and trees, would be lost.

The study makes some recommendations about improving the remaining land if the development is built. But there appears to be nothing in the accompanying application which says what the applicant would do. The recommendations therefore seem to have no material value.

3. Areas of deficiency of open space
Haringey has published maps showing areas of deficiency in open space and areas of deficiency in access to nature. These maps show that areas not far from this site are indeed considered deficient. It is not clear which is the nearest site, but it appears from the map that loss of this site would render an even larger area deficient. (The development as proposed would not completely remove wildlife from the site but it would severely constrain it and diminish its variety and interest).
http://www.haringey.gov.uk/figure_b1-3.pdf; http://www.haringey.gov.uk/figure_b6-3.pdf

4. Nature Deficiency Disorder
There have been many studies in recent years about Nature Deficit Disorder - i.e. the impact on children's lives of a greatly reduced contact with and experience of the natural world. The existing site at Ermine Road is exactly the kind of site that allows children to have unsupervised time playing in nature. Parks have their place but do not provide the same kind of experience.

5. Haringey's Green space policy
Haringey's Local Development Framework core strategy states:

SP13 Open Space and biodiversity
New development shall protect and improve Haringey's parks and open spaces. All new development shall:
Protect and enhance the existing boundaries of the borough's Green Belt, designated Metropolitan Open Land, designated Open Spaces, Green Chains, allotments and other spaces from inappropriate development.

It goes on to say that development should protect and enhance SINCs