Sadiq Khan unveils plan to transform London’s waterways

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has announced a new plan to improve London’s rivers and waterways, and to turn the capital into a swimmable city.

Khan launched his 10-year Clean Rivers and Waterways plan on Wednesday 29 July, outlining his strategy for ridding London’s rivers of pollution, making waterways more accessible and pleasant for Londoners, and creating more blue spaces to make the city swimmable.

The plan notes that none of London’s rivers are currently assessed as being in ‘good’ condition, and recent years have seen sewage flowing freely into the Thames and other waterways. This has been somewhat addressed by the completion of the Thames Tideway Tunnel, which has been instrumental in reducing sewage entering the river during times of overflow.

However, many misconnected properties are still leaking sewage into London’s rivers, polluting them with the equivalent of 1.8 Olympic-sized swimming pools of sewage-polluted water every day.

The mayor will address this and many other issues in his new plan, which will focus on the following ten key locations across the city:

• River Brent catchment – Reduce sewage pollution by resolving incorrectly plumbed pipes, and deliver a marathon-length park spanning four boroughs.
• Yeading Brook – Deliver a rewilding programme to restore the brook.
• Upper Lea Valley – Create a natural sustainable drainage system to reduce pollution and flood risk.
• Lower Lea Valley and Royal Docks – Transform the waterfront, provide water-based activities, and deliver safe open-water safety sessions.
• Grand Union Canal – Upgrade the towpaths and regenerate the waterside.
• Salmons Brook and Pymmes Brook – Restore the landscape and create wetlands to reduce pollution.
• River Roding – Improve access to the riverside
• Ravensbourne catchment – Restore habitats and improve access along the river, restoring it to its natural state.
• Wandle catchment – Restore the rare chalk stream and enhance the riverbank.
• Lower Crane Valley – Create a new 40km riverside trail.

The ten-year plan is backed by £1.8 billion from partners over five years, and Khan has pledged an additional £2.7million to support related projects in the city over the next three years.

Making London a swimmable city

The plan promises to transform London into a swimmable city, improving access to water-based activities and providing safe swimming spaces, where possible.

This follows after the Mayor last month published a heat plan for the capital to help it become more resilient against increasingly frequent heat waves.

Proposed measures included the creation of new ‘blue spaces’ in the capital, where the public would have access to swimming and water-based recreation, as well as making the city greener to reduce the urban heat island effect.

One of the key action points listed in the new Clean Rivers and Waterways plan is to identify and improve open-water sites to offer swimming and recreation activities to Londoners, with the plan noting that there are currently limited opportunities for open-water leisure and recreation across the capital.

“I said we would develop a bold plan to make London a swimmable city, restore lost nature and open up more blue spaces for Londoners to enjoy safely,” Khan said.

“Through this ambitious plan we will work with partners to tackle pollution, restore nature and open up new swimming and recreation opportunities, improving access to help Londoners enjoy and reconnect with their waterways.”

“We will clean up London’s rivers in the same way we cleaned up our toxic air, bringing about lasting change as we work to build a greener, fairer city for everyone,” he said.

What London’s rivers could look like

The Mayor’s Office has provided images of what London’s rivers could look like following the implementation of the newly announced plan, visible below.

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