Home win for campaign to save Warren Farm
VICTORY IN LONG-FOUGHT BATTLE TO STOP QPR’S £30MILLION PLAN
QUEEN’S Park Ranger Football Club has announced it will no longer be pursuing Warren Farm for a new training ground after a near-decade-long battle with local opposition groups.
The EFL Championship club’s plan to build its sports ground on the playing field was approved by Ealing Council but was met by strong opposition from campaigners.
Environmental group Hanwell Nature had secured a judicial review against the move last month in the latest legal challenge to the proposals.
The complex was reportedly estimated to cost £30 million and replace Ealing’s existing sports centre in Windmill Lane, Southall.
QPR said it is now in advanced talks with another site, but remains committed to work with the council on a community sports centre for Ealing’s young people at the farm. Ealing Council said it will withdraw from the judicial review proceedings due to QPR’s confirmation, but council leader Julian Bell said the authority has not abandoned plans to install a sports ground on the land campaigners say is of “high ecological value” to London and the UK.
Cllr Bell said: “Warren Farm has always been a playing field and our ambition to develop first class sporting facilities for the borough’s young people remains unchanged. We will be looking at how this can be funded once the Covid-19 emergency is over.
“Giving people access to sport and setting good exercise habits will keep people healthier and take the pressure off our NHS in the long run.
“I have spoken to senior QPR officials and they have reassured me of their commitment to continuing to support the scheme. This was great to hear.”
QPR chief executive Lee Hoos said: “We are in advanced discussions regarding the freehold of another site which we decided to pursue when the opportunity to acquire the site came up.
“In the spirit of the excellent working relationship we have with Ealing Council we have made them aware of the situation and assured them we remain firmly committed to helping them develop the site for community use.
“As there is a non-disclosure agreement in place regarding the other site, no further comment will be made at this time.”
Reacting to the news, Ealing Green party activist Darren Moore said on Twitter: “This is what first drew me into politics. Losing our precious historic green spaces to business to develop and remove from public access and to reduce local nature.
“It’s amazing news to read that the campaigners have won and Warren Farm will remain ours.”
Local Twiter user Alastair Mitton added: “Massive massive win! Ealing Lib Dems backed Hanwell Nature to the hilt in their challenge to Ealing Council.
“Vital open space with rare and critically endangered species has now been protected for future generations.”