Wormwood Scrubs Common in White City
Users of the Wormwood Scrubs open space were invited to have their say on how it could be improved for wildlife.
The project to help improve biodiversity as well as improve residents’ entrances to the Scrubs is part of plans to offset the effects of constructing the HS2 rail line.
The community event took place at the Kathy Dolan Centre, 78 White City Close, White City, W12 7ED on Tuesday 29 October.
“This was a great opportunity for residents to work with us to improve one of the borough’s most significant homes for wildlife,” said Cllr Wesley Harcourt, H&F Cabinet Member for Environment.
“It’s vital residents have a say in decisions that affect where they live and can help us further improve the Scrubs’ standing as genuine sanctuary for wildlife in the capital.”
A future for nature
The event was hosted by the council jointly with LUC (Landscape Architects) who have been appointed by HS2 Ltd, with support from the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC).
Residents were given more information about the project and asked for any ideas they have for how the Scrubs can be enhanced to create improved habitats that sustain and encourage wildlife.
Wildlife haven
The Scrubs covers 75 hectares and is recognised by English Nature as a site of natural significance. It is already home to a variety of species of plants and animals, this programme should allow many more to flourish.
The meadow pipit - a small songbird - once nested on the Scrubs and is hoped might make a return. There are 15 species of bird nesting on the site with many more visiting, including the popular and colourful goldfinch.
A variety of insects, including 20 species of butterfly can be found on the Scrubs, reptiles such as the common lizard can be seen basking in summer and in the warm evenings you might spot a tiny pipistrelle bat – barely five centimetres long – hunting at dusk.
Wormwood Scrubs surveys and reports by the London Wildlife Trust
- Extended phase 1 habitat survey 2016 (pdf 1.2KB)
- Protected species survey report 2017 (pdf 4.5MB)
- Breeding birds and hedgehogs survey report 2018 (pdf 1.3MB)
- Invertebrate assessment 2018 (pdf 418KB)
- Phase 2 vegetation survey report 2018 (pdf 1.5MB)
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