The Future of Darlands

As most Totteridge residents know, the Darlands Nature Reserve is a much-loved area of land owned by the London Borough of Barnet and beloved by generations of residents for leisurely afternoon walks.After some neglect, the Borough Council took over direct management of the site in 1999 when the lease was terminated. Since then a Management Advisory Committee chaired by me and including, among others, representatives of the Totteridge Residents Association, the Totteridge Manor Association and the Mill Hill Preservation Society has met regularly to advise, encourage and sometimes cajole the Council into ensuring the restoration and preservation of this important but difficult-toaccess site.

This culminated last year in the Council spending £215,000 of Council Tax payers' money in restoring, repairing and strengthening the dam over the Folly Brook as well as upgrading the paths and the footbridge. This work has ensured that the dam has been saved from collapse and the possible disaster of thousands of tons of silt flooding half the Totteridge Valley andWoodside Park.

The Council having fulfilled its statutory responsibilities, the question remained - what happens next? Should the (man-made) lake be desilted, and if so how? Who should manage the reserve?What should be the involvement of local residents?

After much careful thought and consultation, the Borough Council is proposing to lease the Darlands Nature Reserve to the Herts. andMiddlesexWildlife Trust on a 99-year lease at a peppercorn rent and is further proposing to add part of the vacant neighbouring agricultural site (also owned by the Council) to the Darlands reserve. Having increased the size of the reserve, the Council has also suggested leasing further parts of the agricultural land at an appropriate rent to the Wildlife Trust to allow it to use the land if, as seems likely, they wish to proceed with the desilting of the lake. The benefit of the Herts. and MiddlesexWildlife Trust leasing the reserve will be that it can apply for Lottery and other funding which the Council cannot. It can also channel the local Community support (and indeed money) into improving the reserve and implementing a Management Plan which will have to be agreed with the Council. The Trust will also have to preserve public access and ensure appropriate Community involvement in the ongoing management of the area.

It is hoped this can all be brought to a successful conclusion this summer. Although this work has taken considerable time, Darlands is an example of the Community in Totteridge (and Mill Hill) coming together and working closely with Barnet Council to achieve a long- term outcome that will benefit future generations of Totteridge residents.