In the midst of a nature and climate crisis, the fact that the development of the Hillingdon Watersports Facility and Activity Centre (HWFAC) is even being contemplated at Broadwater Lake is honestly quite terrifying. It really speaks to the struggles we face in getting decision-makers to recognise the importance of the natural world and crucially to make evidence-based decisions. Report after report tells us that nature is in freefall, that our collective futures are underpinned by healthy, resilient, nature-rich environments and yet, here we are needing to defend nature from another attack.

In case you haven’t heard already, Broadwater Lake is a really special place and one that’s unique in the Colne Valley. At 80 hectares (that’s roughly the size of 80 football pitches), it's the largest expanse of open water in the Colne Valley and is unusual with its scattering of small, wooded islands. Unlike the many other lakes in this area, it has remained largely undisturbed for many decades offering a guaranteed safe haven for wildlife in this busy landscape throughout the year.

Broadwater Lake forms a considerable part of the Mid-Colne Valley Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a nationally important designation associated with only the very best sites for wildlife in the UK. In particular, it’s the diversity of overwintering wetland birds, and breeding wetland and woodland birds that this site supports that have earnt it this accolade.

• Each winter, huge numbers of waterbirds come to Broadwater Lake to escape freezing winters in northern and eastern Europe. They spend the winter months here, taking advantage of our milder winter weather, feeding up and conserving their energy. Broadwater Lake functions as a rare sanctuary for these birds from disturbance in the Colne Valley and beyond and the site supports nationally significant numbers of both Pochard and Shoveler.
• In spring and summer, the islands, vegetated lake margins and the lake itself supports significant numbers of breeding waterbirds such as Grey Heron, Little Egret, Cormorant and Tufted Duck.
• The vegetated margins and woodland areas surrounding the lake are incredibly important stopover sites for migratory warblers like Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler, Garden Warbler, Willow Warbler and Whitethroat, providing opportunity to rest and refuel as they fly from, and return back to, Africa each year. Together with other birds such as Blackcap, Cetti’s Warblers and Chiffchaff, many will choose to stick around and breed here because the habitat is so good.
• In late summer, the lake plays a crucial role in protecting moulting waterbirds, notably many hundreds of Tufted Duck and Coot. During this time each year, these birds become temporarily flightless due to the loss and regrowth of their flight feathers. The birds depend on a safe area with ample food where they can stay during this time of vulnerability. Tufted Ducks have been coming here to seek safety when they feel most exposed for more than 50 years.

So, how will London Borough of Hillingdon’s plans affect birds and other wildlife at Broadwater Lake?

In short, the proposal to develop HWFAC would prove catastrophic for birds at Broadwater Lake. The proposed development, its construction and the scope and scale of recreational activities that would be hosted at Broadwater Lake will destroy this critical refuge and put the welfare of huge numbers of birds at risk.

The activities associated with the proposed development of HWFAC at Broadwater Lake are many and varied, including sailing, kayaking, rowing, canoeing, paddleboarding, windsurfing, zip wires, pedal go-karting, high ropes, archery and camping. Such activities would have a hugely detrimental impact on birds on land and at water, destroying a decades-old peaceful safe haven with a wide-reaching and regular barrage of noise and movement.

Disturbance is a major problem for birds and when people get too close, they respond in the same way as they would do to a predator. Imagine how stressful and exhausting it would be if you had to sit in your home with the constant fear of needing to flee for your life. And then add to that the worry of rearing young, being hungry and cold yourself and at times knowing that you can’t even fly away from danger because you’re waiting for your new feathers to regrow.

On sites where birds experience significant disturbance, the constant state of high alert that then ensues means that they lose valuable feeding or resting time, and they waste precious energy moving away from perceived threats when they are at their most vulnerable.

If birds are subject to significant disturbance:

• They may not be able to breed.
• They may abandon their nests temporarily leaving eggs or chicks vulnerable to predation or exposure to the elements.
• They may desert their nests entirely.
• They become more vulnerable to predation, particularly in the moult season when they can’t fly for many weeks.
• They may not survive the winter or be able to make their migratory journey back to their summer breeding grounds.
• They may be displaced from a site entirely, which is particularly problematic when there are no other undisturbed sites to move to.

Broadwater Lake is not just important for birds, its home to some of our rarest bat species too including the Daubenton’s, Natterer’s, Soprano Pipistrelle and Nathusius’ Pipistrelle. All these species have an affinity to water and there are multiple bat roosts found across the Broadwater Lake site, with the most important areas being on the peninsula and the wooded islands. The environment on the peninsula has been undisturbed for many decades but Hillingdon Council’s proposal will mean this wild haven is subjected to extensive manipulation to enable the development of buildings, car parks and land-based activities, as well as launching sites for water-based activities – fundamentally changing this place of safety for bats to rest and forage. We know that a Nathusius’ Pipistrelle roost on one of the lake islands is set to be destroyed as part of the development works purely to facilitate a larger area for watersports to take place on. How is this ok?

Broadwater Lake is also within Buglife's Thames Basin Heath and Woodland Important Invertebrate Area (IIA) and the lake and peninsula support huge numbers of invertebrates. If you visited in the summer months, you’d see the flutter of Common Brimstones and Gatekeepers and the aerial acrobatics of the Hairy Dragonfly and White-legged Damselfly. If you knew what to look for, you’d also find some much scarcer invertebrates, like the Brown Tree Ant, Striped Stretch Spider and Hornet Clearwing Moth. In truth, we can’t accurately gauge just how important this site is for invertebrates because for many decades this site has been left to nature, with the peninsula itself being entirely undisturbed and therefore not extensively surveyed. It's very likely the importance of this site for invertebrates is being underplayed.

With Local Authorities being placed at the heart of the Local Nature Recovery Strategy process nationwide, it’s disheartening to in parallel be witnessing Hillingdon Council channelling significant investment into the active de-wilding of one of our core sites for nature. Here at the Trust, we will always defend nature. Hillingdon Council, how did you get this so wrong? This is so clearly not the right place for this development.

Please follow and support us as we stand up for wildlife at Broadwater Lake and together, let’s do all we can to protect this nationally important site from what is clearly an inappropriate development.

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Find out more about the threat to Broadwater Lake and how you can object to the planning application here