The council has “signalled its intention” to reopen Ripple Nature Reserve but still needs to find a partner to finance it, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter
A campaigner fighting to reopen Ripple Nature Reserve in Barking has welcomed a new council “masterplan” to restore it.
Barking and Dagenham Council leaders approved the masterplan “to signal the council’s intention to restore the reserve”. However, the town hall says it doesn’t yet have the money to put the plan into action.
Marion Hull, who has campaigned to reopen the reserve, said: “Getting the nature reserve open would be amazing.”
She described the reserve, in Barking Riverside, as “an oasis in a sea of concrete”.
Ripple Nature Reserve closed in 2019 following tests for asbestos contamination. The site was once a former wasteland for pulverised fuel ash from the coal-powered Barking Power Station between 1925 and 1990.
The tests found that “asbestos levels were below ground, capped and posed low risk” according to the council.
However, the town hall says the site remained closed “for various reasons” following the pandemic.
The council also says it has had no money to restore or maintain the nature reserve since 2003.
London Widlife Trust had managed the reserve on the council’s behalf until that point, funded by propery developer Bellway Homes.
Since then, the council says, “the reserve was largely left to the wilderness, with volunteers litter-picking and carrying out some basic maintenance until it was shut to the public in 2019”.
Marion and other nearby residents have been campaigning to reopen Ripple Nature Reserve. She said: “I used to walk my dog through there. It was there for a long time and then they closed it. We were all very upset that it closed and couldn’t understand why.”
Labour council leaders approved a new masterplan to restore and reopen the reserve at a cabinet meeting on Monday (16th).
Proposals said this “demonstrates a commitment to reopening the reserve”.
However, they also said the council doesn’t have the funding the carry out the work, which is estimated to cost £1.45million.
Plans say the council is in talks with Barking Riverside Ltd, the developer constructing the major housing scheme next to the reserve, over financial contributions towards the restoration as part of future planning agreements.
They also say the new masterplan will help the council apply for grant funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
On top of that, the council also says arrangements for the long-term maintenance of the site also “remain unresolved”.
Council documents say: “The council has no resource to manage a site of this size on a daily basis.
“It is possible that an outside organisation could manage the reserve but this would require either direct council funding or an arrangement similar to that provided by Bellway Homes originally.”
Marion hopes the reserve can be restored and reopened to the public. She said: “It’s lovely, you walk through it and you think you’re somewhere different.
“Some of the plants growing there couldn’t grow anywhere else because the soil itself – although it’s contaminated in a way, it’s in a way that plants like it. It makes it really unique.”
Marion added: “It’s such a sad thing that it’s lost to people. People can’t see the beauty of it.”
