The restoration of Beddington Farmlands has never run smoothly and appears to continue in that vain.
On 8 March, Valencia held a Masterplanning Workshop to discuss changes they wanted to make to the restoration plans deeming them unviable including: acid grasslands; wet grasslands in the north of the site (Phase 1 and 2); Heathland; Wet Woodland and Reedbeds.
Consultant firm Stantec were hired and presented their findings at the meeting, with the main issue cited being the hydrological conditions of the site.
We have sent a written response to Valencia providing our views of the workshop which you can read below. We know that there are meetings happening in the background with Sutton Council and Valencia and we are still waiting for a response to our letter and a date for the next CAMC, where the output of the workshop should be discussed.
Cows on the Farmlands!
So there is some good news that we have been sent a picture of the first cows grazing on the wet grassland (known as phase 3) to the south of the site. This is part of the its management plan.
New website with CAMC minutes
We have chased most meetings to ask when Valencia would provide a website with the current minutes. These have finally been uploaded and hopefully the website will be utilised further to provide more updates on what is happening with the restoration, volunteer opportunities and tours.
Hackbridge & Beddington Corner Neighbourhood Development Group 