The idea
We are The Island triangle Residents’ Association. We comprise 200 homes in the industrial corner of the borough & the centre of the proposed HS2 works. Park Royal is one of the biggest industrial parks in Europe and we are a small island of railway cottages squeezed in the middle of it!
We want to create a woodland oasis within the strip of un-used land between Stephenson St NW10 and the industrial yard beyond. The space cannot be used by the community in its present condition, with overgrown brambles and fly tipping. We have a vision for this space in which it is transformed into a simple wildlife woodland garden, with pathway, woodland plants, play area, living willow tunnel and community space. We desperately need a place to escape from the pollution we put up with on a daily basis.
The land belongs to a company called DB Shenker. We already rent some areas of their land for a peppercorn rent and we have permission from them to do the same for the intended woodland area.
What we'll deliver
- Create small hedges with ‘doors’ and ‘windows’ for little ones.
- Install a small wooden play train and slide with numbered stepping stones and a rope spider web
- Introduce seasonal interest by planting climbers, architectural plants, ground cover, shrubs and flowering plants
- Take out the bramble, leylandii and rubbish and re-plant with beautiful shade loving plants.
- Use the existing cherry and apple trees to create a habitat to encourage birds and wildlife
- Children will make a living willow tunnel leading to a central willow grotto.
- Children will make insect hotels from bamboo canes and bird and bat boxes.
- Create a slate gravel path bordered by logs, which travels the length of the woodland for residents to walk
- Create a space for the community to have gatherings and BBQ’s after our community improvement days
- Plant native species to attract additional wildlife: red campion, wild bergamot, and black mulberry
- Plant a native hedge along the back fence to shield us from the industry beyond
- Plant spring bulbs: bluebells, daffodils snowdrops, native wood anemone and wood sorrel.
- Put in community herb boxes for sunny areas
Why it's a great idea
In the leafy borough of Ealing, we miss out on the greenery enjoyed by other residents. Instead, we are blighted by dust, odour and pollution on a daily basis. The woodland would create a vital green space amenity we simply don’t have. We also have the prospect of the noise, dirt and disruption from the proposed HS2 works in the future. Despite this, we are a strong and vibrant community and we work hard together to improve the little have. We have already successfully created six tiny allotment plots and planted five fruit trees. We are now desperate to improve more of our environment. We have regular community clear up days and get together after with food and drink. We have street parties with bands and bouncy castles and we fight off major developments that threaten our community. We know our neighbours, we look out for one another and we celebrate our successes. We are a ‘can do’ neighbourhood and with money from TYS we can make this happen.
Steps to get it done
- Set date for start of landscaping
- Set dates for continued maintenance of woodland
- Set dates in Spring for community planting (and food and drink after!)
- We need TYS to fund basic landscaping,leylandii removal play equipment plants and materials
- Children will build willow tunnel and grotto
- Community to get together to plant up the woodland
- Obtain basic landscaping and leylandii removal quotes
- Re-budget/adapt ideas according to funding
- Source materials (gravel, logs, rope, stepping stones, plants, compost) and cost
- Source play equipment and cost
The community here comes from a long railway heritage and the cottages were originally built for railway workers serving Willesden Junction Station. If you're a train-spotter you will know that it was the single most important station in the whole country during the First World War. Everything went in and out of here from bandages, boots, weaponry and troops themselves. Some of us here have grandparents who worked at the station at that time and were part of those efforts. In the centenary year of the start of World War I, it would be a wonderful gesture if Ealing chose to support the non-leafy part of the borough, now mostly forgotten, but once so vital during those war efforts.
