Whilst Bexley Council’s consultation on the value and use of our parks and open spaces was primarily aimed at individual residents, Bexley Natural Environment Forum has taken the opportunity to submit a group response (below), addressing the issues of management and the lack of up to date site plans, the scope for enhancing wildlife value, and therefore the need for linkage with a revamped Biodiversity Action Plan, which is now 3 years past the expiry date . It has re-iterated its opposition to open space sell-offs and building on designated Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation, and is concerned that the format of the consultation questionnaire did not provide scope for commenting on these wider – and more controversial – ‘policy’ aspects of the issue. Local wildlife experts in the Borough remain willing to assist the Council on such matters – if it is prepared to listen.
Thames Road Wetland – a fantastic example of Bexley Council restoring and enhancing biodiversity, sadly offset by a string of planning permissions to destroy high-value nature sites elsewhere in the Borough made over the last 3 years. (Photo: Chris Rose)
I am a Greenwich resident but as a friend of Crossness Nature Reserve I was invited to complete the Bexley survey. It did not work, part of the way through the survey my previous scoring either changed or vanished.