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We have backed our member The Friends of Haven Green in opposing plans from Ealing Council to widen footways across Haven Green Common.
Haven Green Common – the cycle stands are an encroachment on the common
Because the works are on common land, the council needs the consent of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, under section 38 of the Commons Act 2006. The society and the Friends have objected because we believe the widened footways will suburbanise the common.
We are also concerned that the council wants to swap the land currently occupied by the bus layby on the north-east side of the common for the land to be used for widening the footway, but the bus layby is already common land so this is not a fair swap.
Says Greg Phelan, chairman of the Friends of Haven Green: ‘This is part of a long process of encroachment by the council, which is likely to accelerate with the redevelopment of Ealing Broadway Station as part of Crossrail. The station lies immediately opposite the green which is therefore at risk. We need an overall plan for the area, one of whose key objectives must be to secure the future of this common land, a vital green space for the community.’