Building on every green site in London must be stopped before ALL the trees are gone!
The Mandela site in Ealing's Conservation Area is one such site. Located at the corner of St Mary's Road and The Park in W5, it is a cool and verdant park with around 20 trees and numerous shrubs growing in it. It provides shelter to a wide variety of birds including woodpeckers - and is one of London's rapidly disappearing but vital green lungs.
The site was given to the University of West London for PUBLIC use. But they are going to build 8 huge three-storey 4-bedroom houses on it to be sold into private hands creating £millions for the University. Their planning application for the houses was REJECTED by Ealing's Planning Committee in June 2015 but the University has appealed against this decision and WON. In fact, the University should be landscaping the site - a promise they made in 1992 when they signed a legally-binding Section 106 agreement.
The University, managed by Professor Peter John (& criticised for its over-development of the campus) states on its own website: "One of the greatest challenges of the 21st century is to balance social and economic goals while protecting the earth’s natural environment and resources. Here at UWL, we’re working hard to meet this challenge..."
Please sign now to ask the University's Board of Governors to apply these values to their own site and halt their building plan - a decision which would be legally, environmentally and morally right.
To the Board of Governors, University of West London
The name Mandela is a symbol for racial equality. At this time - more than ever - the local community and the University should be working together to make Ealing a great place to study - and a great place to live.
Please build bridges - not houses. It is wrong to build houses on this area on 3 counts:
1. You promised to landscape the site and maintain its visual amenity for the area, agreeing that, "the existing trees on the site are not to be lopped, felled or otherwise affected in any way" and "the entire root system of the trees [are] to be retained".
2. You were granted this land by the council for educational purposes - not for commercial gain from building luxury houses to sell off into private hands.
3. You say on your website, "One of the greatest challenges of the c21st is to balance social and economic goals while protecting the earth's natural environment and resources. Here at UWL, we're working hard to meet this challenge...". Please apply your principles to your own site and keep this small remaining space green.
We need Mandela park as a symbol of unity in our community. Please preserve the park for students and the community alike.
Thank you.
Residents of Ealing
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