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We will be joining the March for Clean Water on 26 October. To sign up, just visit the website for the ever-growing coalition. We will have more details of how you can join our East London contingent closer to the time. For now, you can sign this important petition by Good Law Project, supporting a sea swimmer taking on South West Water in a case that could have implications for all water companies.
Last week Save Lea Marshes, along with everyone who took part in the pre-application consultation for the secure facility for children - proposed for the same site as East London Waterworks Park - received welcome news. The unacceptable proposal to submit a planning application for the secure facility to built on Metropolitan Open Land (MOL) next to the River Lea in the Lee Valley Park has been shelved for now.
The orginal timeline envisaged another round of consultation and submission of the application to Waltham Forest Council this month. However, a representative of the 'Pan London Secure Children's Home Project' wrote to consultees admitting 'the need for further design development'. This could well mean that the original design for the facility does not comply with elements of the Local Plan or that the application does not constitute the Very Special Circumstances case currently required for building on MOL. Unfortunately, it could also be that the developers are awaiting the new Labour government's proposals to weaken Green Belt protection in order to facilitate development. This weakening of protections will apply equally to MOL.
The email from the 'secure children's home' developers also acknowledges 'the need to review the project delivery approach in partnership with the Department for Education'. Once again, we can only speculate as to the exact meaning of this information. However, it is well known that the new government are intent on a further round of austerity, with budgets for many planned schemes being slashed or removed altogether, resulting in complete cancellation of some well-advanced proposals. Some of these (destructive road-building schemes for example) are welcome cancellations, as this would be. One of the reasons that (in the words of the developers) this is such a 'complex project' is the difficult and costly engineering required to construct buildings on the footprint of the former filter beds which are merely covered in a capping of concrete. Obviously this would not be a challenge for East London Waterworks Park since the existing structures form a key part of their ambitious and beneficial plans.
For an excellent series of archive photographs and artworks exploring the beauty and complexity of the Essex Filter Beds at the former Lea Bridge Waterworks, including the image above, visit @WalthamSteve's timeline on X/ Twitter.
You can also check out Laurie Elks' excellent summary of the history of the waterworks in the context of the Lee Valley Park in the recording of the East London Waterworks Park open public meeting, now available on YouTube. Laurie was part of the original campaign in the 1980s to try and prevent Thames Water destroying precious heritage in order to create their depot. You can watch his speech from 11 minutes 26 seconds. You can also view Save Lea Marshes' speech, given by Caroline, exploring the main reasons for opposing the secure facility and supporting the park from 24 minutes 27 seconds.
Charlie and Caroline from Save Lea Marshes recently had the pleasure of being interviewed for the innovative and radical Undercurrent project run by Revoluton, an arts organisation based in Luton. Their latest heritage project explores alternative cultures, music and protest in and around the River Lea. The river's (clean) source is a little-known spot, Waulud's Bank, located in a small park in Luton, and it runs all the way to Leamouth in London where it discharges into the murky Thames. In The Banks of Future Past, we discuss Occupy London, the 2012 Olympics, dog walking, official paranoia and fighting to protect green space and river habitats around Walthamstow, Leyton and Hackney Marshes. As well as our interview, you can listen to a range of knowledgeable and colourful characters who have all experienced life on and around the river in diverse ways.
Two local rambles coming up look well worth joining. On 15 September, there is a free Lee Valley Park walk 'Standing stones, streams and water works' starting at the (still closed) WaterWorks Centre and exploring the important yet somewhat neglected Waterworks Nature Reserve. Laurie is leading a walk exploring the historical route of the culverted Hackney Brook, beginning at Finsbury Park and ending at Hackney Wick where the former/ hidden river joins the mighty River Lea on 28 September. Booking is in advance, proceeds go to the Hackney Society.
It can be difficult to choose a favourite from all the photos that are shared with us on social media, but this extraordinary capture of a Peregrine with its unfortunate Kingfisher prey by Max Lipang, spotted at Walthamstow Wetlands, had to be featured!
The latest LP2 consultation, including initial plans for the New Spitalfields site, adjacent to East Marsh, has now gone live. The relevant section is the Leyton Local Plan Part 2 (p.175 onwards). In brief summary, Waltham Forest Council are still planning 2,750 dwellings, including buildings of up to 18 storeys on floodplain next to Hackney Marshes and the River Lea. Some minor modifications that we requested have been achieved, such as the removal of an environmentally damaging bridge. We will have more information, including how to object, in our next newsletter, so keep an eye out for that!