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Bat walk illuminates habitat wipe-out

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27 people, of all ages, came out last Friday night to explore the presence of bats on Millfields, armed with bat audio detectors courtesy of our expert guide Alison Fure.
Learning about bats and bat detectors
photo courtesy David White

What we discovered was that our efforts to improve habitat in the park are being nullified by dazzlingly bright lights on the towpath at Hackney Council waste transfer station, and likewise on British Waterways land near Paradise Dock and the Princess of Wales.

Bats are found near water because the moisture keeps their wings in trim. They’ll fly along rivers and canals looking for the best food spots. Big trees full of insects are ideal hunting ground for them, and woodland edge meadows with wildflowers and long grass (which we have more of on Millfields than a few years ago) also raise the insect count. But few, if any, will hunt where there is bright light. And they live for decades, so they remember the good places and steer clear of the bad.
We expected to find bats easily by the community orchard, with its canalside woodland and meadow, but there was hardly a squeak. That’s not so surprising when you realise that just to the south, the towpath to Cow Bridge is as bright as a sports stadium thanks to the massive floodlights from the waste station.
The waste station lights are so devastating that we couldn’t even detect bats on the opposite side of the canal, showing that the lights have driven bats out of the trees on the edge of the Essex Filter Beds wildlife reserve. It was only when we walked on the less lit section of the filter beds towpath, opposite the orchard, that our detectors picked up bats in the trees which overhang the filter beds wall. You couldn’t have had a more vivid demonstration of how the lights have devastated the habitat of a protected group of species.
Too bright for bats to linger near the pub
photo courtesy David White

By Paradise Dock and the Princess of Wales, Alison said that the Daubenton’s bats she found feeding here 5 years ago are no longer pausing to hunt — they may just whiz through on their way to somewhere more congenial.

Security may be the pretext for this lighting level, but ironically it makes us less safe at night. Too much light destroys your night vision, so that when you move into a less lit area you are at a disadvantage. Moderate lighting would be more secure; and more comfortable for Paradise Dock residents trying to get a good night’s sleep.
Biodiversity Officer Kate Mitchell, who helped MUG set up the walk, has immediately taken the waste depot lighting up for us with her council colleagues. Kate and MUG will also be trying to get something done about the lighting under British Waterways control.After hearing Alison’s introductory talk on bats, we could understand more fully what a loss these fascinating creatures are to the park. We were all geared up to spot this year’s young bats flying with their mothers, trying to cadge a feed.
But on the bright (?) side, there are still some bats to be found on Millfields, and it’s worth looking. Local resident Maggie Murray tipped us off to look on the north-east corner of the cricket field, and demonstrated how she lures them towards her by making a kind of chirruping noise. Maggie is now the Millfields Bat Whisperer — can anyone else do this?
So please let us know if and where you spot bats. Apart from the sheer interest, any scrap of information may be useful in future battles to protect the park.All about urban bats: The London Bat Group

State of Play

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We have a working group of 5 committee members working on play. The group has begun discussions with the council and Ruth Smyth reports on progress.
The playground – can we use this space better?
We are only at the initial stage, but it could be a very exciting development for the park – all ideas need to be fully scoped out and of course full consultation with park users.  It does feel like we are finally going to get some dramatic improvements to play in the park, for everyone to enjoy.
The council has money set aside for play in the park, and is keen to move ahead.  The easiest option is to update the North side facilities.  As long as we stick within the footprint of the current playground, no planning permission is required.  Hence we agreed to brief Theories (the playground design specialists) to start the design/ consultation stage as soon as possible.  In theory we could be making improvements to that space in Spring 2012. The basic proposal that will be given to Theories to scope out is to update the Victorian space to modern standards – in a similar manner to the recent redevelopment of the play facilities on Hackney Downs.  We discussed having a fenced area with facilities for smaller kids, and an unfenced space with facilities for older kids – the plan is to reuse the best pieces of play equipment, and add in new ones too.  This would all be done within the current foot print of the playground.
MUG has been trying to get the toilet/kiosk used better
for some years

Toilet facilities were mentioned, and I am pleased to report that the men’s toilet lock has been fixed so we expect to see these opened more frequently now.  (We will be monitoring this).  We also stressed to the council our desire to see the kiosk opened – this may still be a pipe dream at this stage, but we will continue to campaign for this.

We also discussed the paddling pool space and made it clear to the council that action must be taken to turn this into a useful space for the park.  The council believes using it for any form of play e.g. water feature or climbing frame will face objections from its nearness to housing.  After much (heated) discussion, we reached a potential agreement that it could be turned into a lovely plaza type space, with seating and space for families etc to congregate.  If we can find funding we may be able to do this as part of the redevelopment of the Casimir Road entrance, dramatically improving this space.  We will keep you updated on this.
Simple play equipment at Well Street Common
We also petitioned hard for play improvements on the South side, as the road makes it dangerous for parents with kids from the South side to use the North side playground.  We proposed 5-6 natural play items, made from wood, e.g. bucket swing, climbing frame, similar to Springfield Park. The council have agreed to scope this out as part of the North side development. We discussed the potential location of the play equipment and suggested possibly near the Orchard, the dog free zone or by the basket ball courts to create a hub of activity.  The proposals once scoped out by Theories would be consulted with the community later this year.  For this development we have 2 potential issues – firstly we need to secure funding, but we believe it is worth agreeing a plan at this stage, and we will continue to lobby for funding.  Secondly any structural changes on the South side require planning inspectorate permission as it’s common land.  This will likely delay any construction on the South side to 2013.
We hope you are as excited as us about bringing some much needed improvements to our park.  This plan is only at the initial stage, we are keen to hear your views, but there will of course be a full consultation process once designs and plans are scoped out by the professionals.