Quaggy Waterways Action Group QWAG

Saturday 15th.

#Lewisham Council claims to care about our local rivers.

Why is it failing to:

Prevent the #RiverQuaggy being polluted by just 1 property for 3+ years?

Respond promptly to us + the dossier we sent?

Being mute and inactive over 1 polluting property doesn’t bode well for pollution of our rivers

More pollution of the #RiverQuaggy from 82 Manor Park, near where the river flows into Manor Park - the park.

This latest spill was while we were taking people on a wade as part of Manor Park Friends’ Autumn Fete, Sun 12 Oct.

We first reported this in June 2022…

HitherGreen #Lewisham #SE13

Nappy fished out of the #RiverQuaggy

More pollution of the #RiverQuaggy from 82 Manor Park, near where the river flows into Manor Park - the park.

This latest spill was while we were taking people on a wade as part of Manor Park Friends’ Autumn Fete, Sun 12 Oct.

We first reported this in June 2022…

HitherGreen #Lewisham #SE13

Look what we saw at the end of our wade in Deptford Creek.

An elver - a young eel - hopefully making its way upstream to the restored stretches of the #RiverQuaggy and Ravensbourne to live, grow, hang out, and breed.

Eels we’re once common in our local rivers - and Elverson Rd DLR is so named.

Schoolchildren wading through the flood waters in central Lewisham. See more images from the 1968 Great Flood in the Lewisham Underwater - In Living Memory digital archive https://sites.gold.ac.uk/inlivingmemory/project-2/ Courtesy of Lewisham Local History and Archives Centre.

Staying dry in Catford. See more images from the 1968 Great Flood in the Lewisham Underwater - In Living Memory digital archive https://sites.gold.ac.uk/inlivingmemory/project-2/ Courtesy of of Lewisham Local History and Archives Centre.

Mayor of Lewisham, Alderman Clifford Combes, in his dingy, delivers a meal to a home in Weirside Road, Ladywell aided by residents. See more images from the 1968 Great Flood in the Lewisham Underwater - In Living Memory digital archive https://sites.gold.ac.uk/inlivingmemory/project-2/ Courtesy of Lewisham Local History and Archives Centre.

Wading through the flood waters outside the Odeon cinema in central Lewisham. See more images from the 1968 Great Flood in the Lewisham Underwater - In Living Memory digital archive https://sites.gold.ac.uk/inlivingmemory/project-2/ Courtesy of Lewisham Local History and Archives Centre.

September in the rain.

It’s 57 years since the Great Flood of 15th + 16th Sept 1968, when much of our area was under water.

For more pics and info about the ‘68 deluge see the In Living Memory digital archive: sites.gold.ac.uk/inlivingmemo...

Street Waders Artist Anna Reading’s sculpture, Street Waders, responds to the memories of local people who experienced Lewisham’s Great Flood of 1968. The sculpture acts as a weathervane, responding to changes in the weather and environment surrounding Lewisham’s #RiverQuaggy. Incorporated into the design are silhouettes of a kingfisher and reed-like plant forms. Central to its imagery is a risen water line evoked by a zigzag, above which is a hollow vessel, perforated with holes allowing rainwater to drip through. Hanging beneath the water line are dangling, wading feet and cast impressions of smooth black rocks, representing Blackheath Pebbles, the 55-million-year-old rocks found on the bed of the Quaggy. Photo credit: Ollie Hammick

Photo credit: Ollie Hammick Lewisham Underwater: Remembering the Great Flood of 1968 On 15-16 September 1968, following days of torrential rain, much of Lewisham found itself under water. What became known as the ‘Great Flood’ had a profound effect on Lewisham’s people and their relationship with its rivers. A collaboration between the Quaggy Waterways Action Group (QWAG) and Lewisham Council’s Climate Resilience Team, Lewisham Underwater gathered memories of the Lewisham residents who were affected, connecting an event over 50 years ago with our relationship to local rivers today. Through public art, fun-filled river activities and even a new flood beer called ‘Deluge’, Lewisham Underwater made rivers everybody’s business. Explore images and more from the project in the digital archive: https://sites.gold.ac.uk/inlivingmemory/project-2/

Photo credits: Ollie Hammick Street Waders Artist Anna Reading’s sculpture, Street Waders, responds to the memories of local people who experienced Lewisham’s Great Flood of 1968. About the artist Born in Newcastle Upon Tyne (1987), Anna Reading is a Lewisham resident and artist. She has a BA in Fine Art from Central St Martins (2010), an MfA in Sculpture from Slade School of Fine Art (2017), and is the winner of the 2018-19 Mark Tanner Sculpture Award. Reading’s work deals with issues around anthropocentric perspectives and the subsequent impacts upon environments, bodies, and human psyches. Her sculptural works attempt to engage and collaborate with the environment around us, looking for lessons in survival within hostile settings. Reading creates hybrids of imagery, materials and forms to highlight the unruly spaces at the edges of the built environment.

Great Flood of 1968 On 15-16 September 1968, following days of torrential rain, much of Lewisham found itself under water. What became known as the ‘Great Flood’ had a profound effect on Lewisham’s people and their relationship with its rivers. A collaboration between the Quaggy Waterways Action Group (QWAG) and Lewisham Council’s Climate Resilience Team, Lewisham Underwater gathered memories of the Lewisham residents who were affected, connecting an event over 50 years ago with our relationship to local rivers today. Through public art, fun-filled river activities and even a new flood beer called ‘Deluge’, Lewisham Underwater made rivers everybody’s business. Explore images and more from the project in the digital archive: https://sites.gold.ac.uk/inlivingmemory/project-2/ Led by Goldsmiths, University of London, In Living Memory celebrated Lewisham’s diversity and heritage for London Borough of Culture 2022.

Is it a bird? Is it a…?

Come to the unveiling of Street Waders, Anna Reading’s striking sculpture inspired by the Great Flood of 1968, beside the #RiverQuaggy

11am - 12.30pm, Sat 13 Sept @ Plough Bridge Gardens, central #Lewisham, #SE13 5AF, along from St Stephen's Church + Police Station.

Disposable vapes - is the ban working? Mike Keogh and Paul de Zylva from Quaggy Waterways Action Group (QWAG) spent a year cleaning up discarded vapes across Lewisham. Mike argues that the environmental damage caused by vapes is much wors...

Mike Keogh and @pauldezylva.bsky.social from @quaggyriveraction.bsky.social spent a year cleaning up disposable vapes across Lewisham.

Why are they so bad for waterways? Is the new ban working?

www.salamandernews.org/has-disposab...

Roll on 1st June - when the ban on #disposablevapes starts. Just some of the hundred of #vapes and packaging we’ve taken off the streets, and from road verges, parks, rivers. Will the ban work? Do trading standards have the resources to check retailers? For more on the ban see the BBC report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cp8d99qvm6nt

Roll on 1st June - when the ban on #disposablevapes starts.

Just some of the hundred of #vapes + packaging we’ve taken off the streets, and from road verges, parks, rivers.

Will the ban work? Do trading standards have the resources to check retailers?

More on the ban
www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cp...

Front Garden Network Please join us for the next online meeting of the Front Gardens Network on 15 May, 12.30-1.30pm.Alice Roberts, Head of Campaigns at CPRE London, will be giving an update on action being taken around L...

The loss of front gardens to hard surfacing and ‘bland-scaping’ is adding to flood risk, health-harming heat, and nature’s decline.

Front Gardens Network meeting with presentations and discussion:

Thursday 15 May, 12.30pm to 1.30pm

cpre-london.eventcube.io/events/73478...

The BBC reports use of disposable vapes is dropping.

Here’s our latest haul of vapes dropped on streets, in parks, on river banks and found in rivers.

The drop continues…

Disposable vape use falling in UK ahead of ban - BBC report www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

What do you think of Greenwich's Thames Path? Councillors want to know - The Greenwich Wire Greenwich councillors are asking residents what they think of the Thames Path as part of a review that could lead to a new town hall strategy to improve it.

Greenwich councillors are asking residents what they think of the Thames Path as part of a review for a scrutiny panel.

The survey asks residents how the path could be improved and how it can be better connected with local communities.

Pollution from the rear of a house emptied in to the #RiverQuaggy just upstream of where the river flows though Manor Park #Lewisham #SE13 The stains on the concrete wall and the eroded river bank indicate pollution spills are frequent. We (QWAG) have photos and film of the pollution coming out of the house into the river.

A close up of ‘heart-shaped’ pool of milky pollution of the #RiverQuaggy. The milky colour looks like detergents, which should not be going straight into the river.

A council office takes their own photographic record of the pollution.

Lewisham Council says it WILL now deal with this pollution of the #RiverQuaggy from a home.

We first reported this in summer 2022.

Since then the EnvAgency Thames Water and #Lewisham have passed the buck.

Our experience doesn’t bode well for residents/ others who may not know the system as we do.

Interesting.

But as London’s rivers are in trouble for pollution and physical alteration reasons, not just due to sewage spills, will this money also be used to renaturalise rivers and others projects not involving sewage?

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Meanwhile, in a once civilised space - an Ex Twitter or similar…

Historic decision sees River Ouse set to become first in England with legal rights - Environmental Law Foundation Lewes, – In an exciting and groundbreaking decision, Lewes District Council have agreed to recognise the Rights of the River Ouse, paving the way for the Ouse to become the first in England to have it...

River Ouse in Sussex set to gain legal rights

elflaw.org/news/histori...

Steve Reed MP, UK Environment Secretary writes in The Daily Telegraph (17 February 2025) that: “We can build new housing, reservoirs, clean energy and airports while also restoring nature. “Labour will grow the economy and protect the environment at the same time.”

In reply to Steve Reed MP’s tweet, we said: “Env Sec @SteveReedMP claims development of questionable quality fits with restoring the UK’s depleted nature. “But he failed to set out PRECISELY how. “Meanwhile, he’s joined in the inaccurate anti-nature rhetoric and bat & newt bashing by PM Starmer & Chancellor Reeves. “Fail”

UK Environment Secretary Steve Reed MP wants us to think that lots of development of questionable quality can be pushed through (without bothersome bats or newts!) and the UK’s depleted nature will be OK.

Here’s what we said on our Ex Twitter feed.

We’re still using the dead-zone for now…

One thing we do as volunteers is watch what developers are doing or planning, often with big claims that never happen. We do this because there’s huge scope to improve and restore our much avoided local rivers when development takes place. We’ve had good experiences of working with a few developers. But, in the main, it’s still the case that most need to be watched. Too many like to make claims, to show artist’s impressions, and to use and misuse words without any real intention to do what’s needed to properly restore local rivers. This particular text refers to the redevelopment of the Tesco site at Conington Road in central Lewisham. The developer, Meyer Homes, has a tall tower on the site, with more construction in hand and to come. When it sought original planning permission, Meyer kept saying it would restore and re-naturalise the river. That would have been great. But we pointed out that the way the river and other infrastructure are stuck in concrete and underground, if Meyer really meant ‘re-naturalisation’ that would be a bigger task than they might have imagined. Of course, nothing of the sort has happened - and proper river restoration in this location might never happen. Meanwhile, Meyer has long since secured planning approval for its 34-storey tower that’s topped with a ‘Skydeck’ that’s meant to be publicly and freely accessible. Out of 365 flats, only 73 will be ‘affordable’. For more see https://greenwichwire.co.uk/2020/01/28/lewishams-34-storey-tesco-tower-approved-by-minister-after-public-inquiry/ The text shown comes from a current (Feb 2025) document produced as part of updating Lewisham’s Local Plan - the blueprint for how the borough will develop over the next decade or so. The process to draw up a new Local Plan is nearing its end after previous consultations, and a public hearing in summer 2024. This text is on p9 of the ‘Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) of the Lewisham Local Plan’ by the consultancy AECOM.

“However, it is understood that a local action group, with an interest in re-naturalising the river corridor... wish to see firmer requirements set.”

“However, it is understood that a local action group, with an interest in re-naturalising the river corridor... wish to see firmer requirements set.”

It’s slightly funny to see this description of us - at least we think it’s us!

Beavers build planned dams in protected landscape area, while local officials still seeking permits A beaver colony has gained overnight fame by building several dams in the Brdy protected landscape area, creating a natural wetland exactly where it was needed.

Beavers cut costs and ‘red tape’.

Of course they do.

english.radio.cz/beavers-buil....

Government ministers seem to be too busy blaming bats & newts to get their facts right. Now, Chancellor Rachel Reeves goes on to the Today programme (BBC Radio 4, Thursday 30 January at 08.17am: "We need to make decisions differently. It's why Steve Reed, the environment secretary has announced the creation of something called a Nature Restoration Fund.... "The creation of a Nature Restoration Fund is to say 'crack on', get the development built, so that things are still 'nature positive', but not in every particular site." In other words, low or no nature zones across the UK. With this kind of ignorance about how nature works, and what it needs, why is any surprised that the UK is now one of the most nature-depleted nations in the world. And why should our politicians be surprised if we volunteers start questioning whether we should bother do any longer?

Govt too busy blaming bats & newts to get their facts right. Now, Rachel Reeves wants low nature zones: “‘crack on', get development built, so that things are still 'nature positive', but not in every particular site”

This is why UK is among the most nature-depleted nations.

Why bother any more?

Removing thousands of tiny polystyrene beads dumped into the #RiverQuaggy at #SutcliffePark #Greenwich.

Painstaking work scooping particles from the river plus handpicking the tiny white balls from the surrounding river banks, soil, plants, and even clinging to tree trunks.

Tiny pearly particles of polystyrene in the lake in Sutcliffe Park. Huge danger to wildlife including when bird think the small particles might be food.

Tiny pearly particles already contaminating the ground in Sutcliffe Park. This is a lingering risk for wildlife and for the quality of the soils.

No, it’s not artificial snow. It’s polystyrene particles in the wetland at Sutcliffe Park. Let loose by some idiot(s) with Artificial Intelligence.

Some numbskull decided to dump loads of polystyrene in #SutcliffePark where the #RiverQuaggy feeds the woodland wetland.

Τhis is high risk for wildlife from birds (resident + migrating) to water + soil quality because the tiny pearly particles get into the river and are trodden into the ground.

200+ shopping bags full of bloodied bandages, plasters and take away coffee cups and plastic lids removed by QWAG volunteers on 8 January 2024 from the banks of the #RiverQuaggy on the upper #LeeHighRoad opposite the Duke of Edinburgh public house near #LeeGreen in #Lewisham #SE12 #SE13

The dumped shopping bags on the banks of the #RiverQuaggy.

Moving the dumped waste to the public pavement for Lewisham Council staff to take it away.

The bags removed leaving the river banks clear, although more bags were dumped throughout 2024.

A year ago, on 8 Jan 2024, we removed 200+ bags from the #RiverQuaggy.

They were full of medical and take away waste.

Pics show the scene before and after.

A person has been using the river as a dump since early 2023.

Will 2025 see an end to this?

#LeeGreen #LeeHighRoad #Lewisham

Government has broken the law on sewage, says watchdog The OEP has ruled that it allowed excessive sewage into England's rivers and seas.

The government likes to blame the water companies for the sewage scandal.

No longer. Ministers weakened regulations and the Environment Agency’s ability to track & trace pollution.

Now, the govt has been investigated for allowing breaches to happen in the first place www.bbc.com/news/article...

Hello!