I wrote a couple of days ago about Hogshaw tip and the plans for redevelopment. The plans will go ahead because apparently Rail Track have an automatic right to develop their land for railway related business. So extending the sidings so that longer trains can run on the lines will not be a problem. As I mentioned the improvement, if that is the right word, to the infrastructure, makes it more likely that surplus land will be used for housing

The site is not to everyone’s taste. It is scruffy, wild and unkempt. So ideal for nature to take it back and for a wide variety of ecosystems and habitats to develop.

Despite the old buildings only being partially demolished, nature has taken over.

Even a supermarket shopping trolley gets absorbed eventually. Give nature a chance, leave her alone, and she will reclaim the land we have damaged, and create a mosaic of habitats allowing many different species to thrive and benefit. We do not know best, but I fear our arrogance, our desire to control and to tame, will always win out over the alternatives.