More joy for Karen as Crossness listed in 100 things to do in London by lastminute.com

Hot on the heels of Karen Sutton’s elevation to the role of Biodiversity Team Manager at Thames Water, comes the news that Crossness has been listed on:

100 Things in London, which has ‘intriguing stories and little known facts about London’s best bits, and where to find them.’

by lastminute.com.

Go to:

http://www.lastminute.com/inspiration/100-things-in-london/

and scroll down through the pictures til you spot the Water Vole one, then click on that, and click through again to go to TW’s Crossness information page. NOTE HOWEVER that the window that opens when you click on the Water Vole image will erroneously tell you that the nearest station is Woolwich Arsenal, when for the northern part of the site it is Belvedere, and for the Southern Marsh, Belvedere or Abbey Wood.

Crossness sewage works turbine seen across  reedbed from the Protected Area boardwalk (Photo: Chris Rose)

Crossness sewage works turbine seen across reedbed from the Protected Area boardwalk (Photo: Chris Rose)

Posted in Crossness, Crossness Nature Reserve, Open spaces | Leave a comment

Erith Quarry – any further decisions on SINC status must be subject to public scrutiny

Erith Quarry, a Grade 1 Site of Importance for Nature Conservation in the Borough, is the subject on an impending planning application for up to 600 houses, which would see a substantial area of important grass and scrub-land disappear.

Erith Quarry, one of a handful of quality scrub habitats in the Borough. Large contiguous sites like this are far better for wildlife than small fragmented ones.

Erith Quarry, one of a handful of quality scrub habitats in the Borough. Large contiguous sites like this are far better for wildlife than small fragmented ones.

In 2013  existing  and potential new SINCs were surveyed by London Wildlife Trust on behalf of Bexley Council. According to LWT’s report, they were unable to get access to the Erith Quarry site because of an ongoing change of ownership. The new owners have since had paid ‘ecological consultants’ to examine the site prior to submitting their plans to the Council. Meanwhile the SINC report has still not been signed off due to re-organisation within the Council.

Bexley Natural Environment Forum has written to the relevant officer at Bexley Council as set out below, to ensure that if any amendment to Erith Quarry’s SINC citation is considered following any submission of biodiversity data to the Council by the ‘developer’ or its agents, then this is subject to the same public scrutiny as the original draft report.

Ray Gray, Chair of BNEF said ‘ Private landowners are at liberty to refuse access to their land for people conducting SINC reviews, but we cannot set a precedent whereby they are allowed to try and influence the review in a way that avoids the public consultation that has applied to the rest of the sites under consideration.’

For reasons why Erith Quarry is a very important for wildlife see:

http://www.erithquarry.org/why-is-erith-quarry-important/

Letter to the Council:

Could you please confirm in writing, as discussed at our recent meeting, that BNEF/the public will have the opportunity to comment on any changes proposed to the Erith Quarry citation as a result of data gathered and presented to the Council by or from the ‘developer’s’ ‘ecologists’.

As we said at the meeting, it would not be acceptable for the site owner, having avoided survey during the Council (i.e. public’s) own review, and thereby circumvented the scrutiny and public consultation that has led to the ‘final report’, to be able to now influence that report in any way without an opportunity for public to comment – before the Council signs off on the review as a whole – on any submission they might now make (long after the public consultation period has closed).

Whilst we are not seeking to impugn the motives of any particular ‘ecological consultants’, nevertheless they are in the pay of an organisation that has a commercial interest in arguing that as much of the site as possible is ‘expendable’ from a wildlife conservation point of view, and in otherwise minimising the constraints on the nature of any development arising from biodiversity considerations. They cannot, therefore, be seen as ‘independent’ in the way that the surveyors hired by the Council to conduct the SINC review were.

Yours, Chris Rose. Vice-chair, Bexley Natural Environment Forum.

Posted in Bexley Council, Consultations, Erith Quarry, SINC | 1 Comment

Expanded conservation role for Karen Sutton as she takes charge of portfolio of sites

Congratulations to Crossness Nature Reserve manager Karen Sutton who has been promoted to Biodiversity Team Manager at Thames Water. There will be a huge sigh of relief locally to hear the news that she will still be managing Crossness Nature Reserve, so this step up won’t directly affect the current management or communication lines relating to Crossness.

Karen Sutton (pictured with David 'The Urban Birder' Liondo) at Crossness earlier this year) has been promoted to Biodiversity Team Manager at Thames Water, putting her in charge of a portfolio of sites. (photo: Brenda Todd)

Karen Sutton (pictured with David ‘The Urban Birder’ Lindo at Crossness earlier this year) has been promoted to Biodiversity Team Manager at Thames Water, putting her in charge of a portfolio of conservation sites. (photo: Brenda Todd)

Karen will now be managing a team of four (Thames Water’s other Nature Reserve Managers at Kempton, Hogsmill and Beckton, as well as a Biodiversity Field Officer that Thames Water is currently recruiting internally). This will at some point increase by a further two sites: Molesy and Creekside.

Karen will still be managing, and based at, Crossness, so nothing will really change from the Friend’s point-of-view. She will still be running the events, the volunteer days etc, but will have increased managerial responsibilities.

Karen said ‘Whilst I am not going anywhere, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Friends. This is an amazing group, and Crossness would not be the site that it is without the vast input from the Friends group. We have conservation task volunteers, volunteer wildlife surveyors, data inputters, members that submit fabulously detailed wildlife records, provide stunning site/wildlife photography, others that deliver community events, write newsletter articles; you just couldn’t ask for more from a group – thank you so very much. I look forward to continuing to work with you all.’

 

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Open spaces sell-off: openness, Bexley Council and the ‘phantom list’ it now declines to make public

Bexley Council is consulting the public on a proposal to sell off up to 27 pieces of ‘open space’, as part of its attempt to make further significant budget cuts by 2018. But despite accepting that it will need to work even more closely with volunteer groups and others to get things done, it has removed the list of sites  – which we are reliably informed was downloadable initially – from the consultation website, and is now declining to make it available.

It is blindingly obvious from the wording of the question in the consultation:

22. Parks: Bexley has 106 parks and open spaces plus numerous pieces of ‘green’ highway land across the borough. Disposal of 27 of these sites would generate receipts which would reduce the financing costs on the Council’s capital programme. Half the saving would be generated through the disposal of half of one site.This proposal is the disposal of 27 out of 106 open spaces or pieces of ‘green’ highway land (Total savings over four years = £1,620,000)

that not only does a list of identified sites exists but also, from the statement that ‘Half the saving would be generated through the disposal of half of one site.’ and the figure for the total saving, that the Council has also already decided upon the sorts of likely end usages that it would approve.

Some of the sites will probably be ‘highway land’, but we are led to believe that some parks, or parts of them, are also being considered for sell-off.

Bexley Natural Environment Forum was first alerted to the fact that the consultation was online on October 17th, but it was probably live before that. When we spoke to the Parks and Open Spaces department on Monday 20th, two key staff said that they’d heard about the list, but had still not seen it and would have to ask someone further up the line about it. Later that day we asked in writing for a copy of the list, the projected sale price and the identified usages that the prices were based upon for each site. We were told that we could only be sent the ‘approved response’  (reproduced below), which seeks to sidestep the issue of the list.

In the online preamble to the budget consultation at:

http://www.bexley.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=18250

we are told that ‘The Council is also exploring new ways to deliver a wide range of services, including the use of volunteers who are prepared to devote their time to contribute to the well-being of their community, neighbours and friends.’

and that:

‘The scale of the savings means we are going to have to become a different kind of Council over the next four years,” added Deputy Council Leader, Cllr Gareth Bacon. ‘We will be reviewing everything we do and asking if it needs to be done, if there are better ways of achieving the same results, or other organisations who could work with us to deliver better for less.

‘We will become a smaller organisation which works through partners, voluntary services and residents more often and that delivers fewer services itself.

The Council therefore needs to answer a number of questions:

i) In its so-called ‘Vision’ for ever more ‘growth’, we are told that we can have loads more ‘development’ without compromising the things we ‘value’ about the Borough. One of those things is surely open spaces of all kinds. It’s time we were told in black and white what things the Council itself ‘values’ about the Borough, and that it thinks should be sacrosanct beyond any sale price it can get for them.

ii) Does the Council think that residents can sensibly answer Q22 without knowing which sites are on the list? (of course the lack of a list and a reference to unspecific parks might actually mean more people say ‘no’) .

iii) The ‘approved response’ goes beyond the consultation question in saying that ‘The alternative [to sell-offs] is to substantially reduce or cease maintaining these sites.’ As the Council knows full well, there is a body called Bexley Natural Environment Forum, which is the umbrella group for Friends of Parks and Open Spaces groups, and wildlife conservationists in the Borough, which already do much valuable maintenance and litter clearance work, the meetings of which are attended by some Bexley Councillors. Before stirring up worry and unnecessary confrontation, why has the Council not come to this group to explore what can be done together to set up Friends Groups for these potential disposal sites – and more of the others in the Borough that do not yet have them – instead of touting the ‘nuclear option’ first? It is also the case that reduced ‘maintenance’ in the conventional sense could in some cases be good for biodiversity. Of course any sale can only generate one-off income, and if the Council’s blind faith in increasing future revenue through general ‘growth’ in the economy doesn’t work, it will be back to square one.

Chris Rose, Vice-chair of Bexley Natural Environment Forum said   ‘The Council says it is looking for more help from volunteers. We suggest that giving the impression that it is tactically withholding information, perhaps to outflank potential objectors, and to minimise the time they have to muster opposition, as well as treating the public like fools on the subject of the list, is not the best way to maximise the number of people who might come forward, or to foster working together constructively with local organisations in a relationship of mutual trust and respect. Sadly the Council has other recent form on this front, by ‘hiding’ the five-fold increase in the number of houses it envisages being built in the Borough in ‘plain sight’, whilst implausibly claiming that there is no list of specific sites where they are all going to go.’

Perhaps we should be grateful that if the Council is ducking and diving to try and minimise flak, it is doing it in a way that may help stir up even more objections. It seems likely that at least some sites will be particularly controversial for amenity and/or wildlife reasons. One parcel is said to be worth £800,000, although the average would be £60,000 each. Given the Council’s dramatically inflated housing ambitions, there is a justified fear that this could be the thin end of the wedge, even if it turns out that there are no major wildlife implications this time around.

The online budget ‘consultation’ can be found here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx? sm=n2236yhloJk6SA6PRbNOHazLZ2qLPXXMr%2bKhMFRT9RQ%3d

responses must be submitted by 9 January 2015.

The ‘APPROVED RESPONSE’ from Bexley Council to our written request for a copy of the list of sites put forward for possible sale, the projected sale prices and the identified usages that those prices are based upon is as follows:

‘The Council is currently undertaking consultation on the borough’s medium term financial plans.  The consultation invites views on 39 specific proposals that will contribute towards achieving the significant level of savings the Council must identify over the next 4 years, due to our exceptionally challenging financial situation.  The Council has reduced its spending by £61 million since 2006, but needs to save another £50 million over the next four years.

The consultation includes proposals to dispose of a number of highway and park/open space sites, to generate revenue that can be used to support the cost of grounds maintenance across the borough’s parks and open spaces.  The alternative is to substantially reduce or cease maintaining these sites.

If Councillors decide to proceed following the consultation, we will carry out further work. If particular sites are selected for disposal, this would be carried out in line with our usual processes, which would include appropriate consultation specific to each site.’

________________________

Chris Rose

 

Posted in Bexley Council, BNEF, Budget, Consultations, Environment, Housing targets, Land sales, Open spaces, Parks, Planning | 2 Comments

South east’s migratory birds wintering in Africa face steep declines – effects seen in Bexley

The following media release by the RSPB and partner organisations, comments on the State of the UK’s Birds report as it applies to the decline of migratory birds in south-east England. This is just the latest publication (following on from others such as the ‘State of Nature’ in 2013, and ‘Living planet’ in 2014)  showing that not just biodiversity (numbers of species) but bio-abundance (numbers of individuals) are in serious decline. The latter, of course, leads to the former, and – one could say- extinction begins at home. So there is much we should be doing here in Bexley (and not doing – especially in terms of the Council planning ever more habitat loss) . To highlight the local contribution to this state of affairs, we are working on a list of species that have disappeared from the Borough in the last hundred years or so, or that now only pass through and no longer breed here. Unfortunately it is all too easy for the powers that be to complacently imagine – given the relative amount of ‘greenspace’ in Bexley – that there isn’t a problem here and that it’s Brazil, China or somewhere else that is to blame for species losses, or to hide behind some alleged ‘economic necessity’, when the economy depends on nature and not the other way around.

The Spotted Flycatcher, Cuckoo and Turtle Dove are two of the species mentioned in the RSPB commentary that are now rarely seen in Bexley and do not breed here anymore, the former having perhaps last bred in the Borough in 2012. The last Nightingale was heard in Bexley back in 2010. The non-migratory Lesser Spotted Woodpecker has gone the same way.  With migrants there is obviously an impact of habitat loss elsewhere in the world, but we should still get our own house in order. With Swifts we can put up nest-boxes to make up for changes in building design and maintenance that prevent them accessing nesting holes – contact “Jonathan Rooks” <jonathanrooks@virginmedia.com> to help with a nest-box scheme in Bexley.

The State of the UK’s Birds report is published by a partnership of eight organisations: RSPB; British Trust for Ornithology; Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust; Natural Resources Wales; Natural England; Northern Ireland Environment Agency; Scottish Natural Heritage; and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

South east’s migratory birds wintering in Africa face steep declines

Bird numbers continue to fall in the south east but the migratory species who fly south for winter are also dropping sharply, a new report by the RSPB and partners has revealed.

Two species which used to have a stronghold in the south east, turtle doves and swifts, are particularly affected, says the State of the UK’s Birds report published today.

“Turtle doves, whose numbers have fallen by 88 per cent since 1995, are also affected by conditions in Africa where they roost for winter, on migration, as well as facing challenges in the UK,” said RSPB Conservation Advisor Hayley New.

“The decline in the availability of seeds, which turtle doves have traditionally fed upon, means that they can struggle to find food after flying hundreds of miles to their breeding grounds. This further jeopardises the survival of a bird which is already one the fastest-declining species in the UK,” Hayley added.

Species wintering furthest south such as swifts, also show a substantial decline since the early 1980s. Between 1995 and 2012 their numbers dropped by 38 per cent in the UK nationally and declined by nearly 50 per cent in the south east.

“Migration is part of the swifts’ life cycle and conditions on the way, or once they arrive in Africa, will make a difference to the birds’ chances of survival, “ said RSPB Conservation Projects officer Richard Black. “Swifts travel huge distances and are hard to track, but it is obvious from the decline in their numbers that they are facing difficult conditions and it is having an impact.”

The latest annual State of the UK’s Birds report includes a migratory birds section, including trends for 29 migrant species which nest in the UK in summer and spend the winter around the Mediterranean, or in Africa south of the Sahara Desert.  For the first time the recent population trends for these migratory species have been combined into an indicator revealing some marked differences between species that winter in different areas.

Species, such as whinchat, nightingale, tree pipit and spotted flycatcher, which winter in the humid zone of Africa – stretching across the continent from southern Senegal to Nigeria and beyond – show the most dramatic declines: the indicator for this group of species has dropped by just over 70 per cent since the late 1980s. This contrasts with species, such as sand martin, whitethroat and sedge warbler, wintering in the arid zone (just below the Sahara desert). These species have fluctuated considerably since 1970, but show a less than 20 per cent decline overall.

As well as the turtle doves’ dramatic decline, other species have also been affected: wood warbler, 66 per cent; pied flycatcher, 53 per cent; spotted flycatcher, 49 per cent; cuckoo, 49 per cent; nightingale, 43 per cent; and yellow wagtail, 43 per cent.

Future editions of the State of the UK’s Birds report will contain a regular update to the migratory birds’ indicator. Researchers need to understand more about what’s driving these declines. Evidence is being gathered from a variety of sources including tracking studies and on-the-ground surveys.

Martin Harper, RSPB Conservation Director, said: “West Africa is the winter home for many species bird species that breed in the UK. But many of these birds that cross continents are in rapid decline. Their nomadic lifestyle, requiring sites and resources spread over vast distances across the globe makes identifying and understanding the causes of decline extremely complex. The problems may be in the UK or in West Africa, or indeed on migration in between the two.”

David Noble, Principal Ecologist at BTO said: “We can accurately monitor the patterns of decline in these once-familiar summer breeders thanks to several decades of careful observations by an army of volunteer birdwatchers. More recently, tracking devices have shed light on migratory routes and key wintering areas. To take appropriate action, further study is needed to determine the pressures faced in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as breeding here in the UK.”

Colette Hall, Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT) Species Monitoring Officer said: “The length of many bird migrations – often thousands of miles – makes it very difficult to pinpoint where and what is causing populations to fall. So the more information we can get all along the migration routes – on land use changes, new infrastructure etc – the better we can target protection measures. It’s important that we help build up the capacity of local bird organisations and volunteers across the world to provide vital information through their own long-term monitoring.”

Alan Law, Director of Biodiversity delivery at Natural England said: “It is self-evident that effective conservation of a migratory species requires appropriate measures to be in place at each step of the migratory cycle.  For some species, there is growing evidence of pressure on breeding success here in England. Our focus therefore is to ensure that well-managed habitats are available in this country so that migratory species can breed here successfully; this work involves close collaboration with land managers both on designated conservation sites and across the wider farmed countryside”.

David Stroud, Senior Ornithologist with the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, said: “Migratory birds depend on conservation actions in all the countries they move through in the course of their annual cycle.  The UK is working with these countries to help improve the condition of their critical habitats through its participation in multi-lateral environmental agreements such as the Biodiversity Convention and the Ramsar Convention on wetlands.”

The State of the UK’s Birds report also covers the UK’s Overseas Territories. The latest evidence reveals mixed fortunes for two important albatross populations in the UK’s Overseas Territories. Seventy per cent of the world’s black-browed albatrosses nest in the Falkland Islands. A population increase here has allowed researchers to downgrade the extinction threat of this species from Endangered to Near Threatened. Sadly, the fortunes of the grey-headed albatross have deteriorated as declines have been reported in nesting colonies on South Georgia, which hosts half the world’s population.

The State of the UK’s Birds report is published by a partnership of eight organisations: RSPB; British Trust for Ornithology; Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust;  Natural Resources Wales; Natural England; Northern Ireland Environment Agency; Scottish Natural Heritage; and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee.

Ends

Posted in Bird watching, Environment, Extinction, Migration, RSPB | Leave a comment

Bexley Park Woods – nest-box scheme success

By Ralph Todd

Local conservation volunteer, Duncan Devine, was joined on Wednesday 15th October by colleagues from the Friends of the Shuttle to inspect and clean the 16 nest-boxes he had built and put up with the help of local families/volunteers in Bexley Park Woods in November 2013. It was with some nervousness and excitement that Duncan climbed the ladder and lifted the lid of the first to be opened, number 13 as it happened, not unlucky this time as a beautifully formed nest of grass, mosses and wool from tennis balls (presumably unfound by playing dogs) showed all the signs that it had been successfully used by a pair of blue tits.

Duncan Devine opens the first nest box to be checked.

Duncan Devine opens the first nest- box to be checked.

Amongst the individual boxes, two were avian terraced dwellings comprising three in one boxes – both of these also contained complete and successful nests of blue tits.

Duncan with a triple nest-box.

Duncan with a triple nest-box.

Despite the fact that four of the boxes had been wilfully and sadly vandalised, 9 of the boxes had been used with 7 certainly having been successful as the nests contained fragments of egg shell and droppings along with feathers from adult and young birds.  What did remain in the nests suggested all had been used by blue tits though visible evidence during the nesting season (late March – May) produced sightings of great tits as well.

Duncan was pleased to see that blue tits had been using the boxes he made.

Duncan was pleased to see that blue tits had been using the boxes he made.

Some minor repairs were made to some of the boxes and some were repositioned, usually to slightly higher elevations away from vandals, both human and mammal (grey squirrels).

Duncan, Joanne Bradley, Robert Bradnam and Jane Stout worked to clean out and reposition nest boxes as necessary.

Duncan, Joanne Bradley, Robert Bradnam and Jane Stout worked to clean out and reposition nest boxes as necessary.

It is advisable to check nest boxes and remove any old nests, unhatched eggs and debris – these may be removed legally between October and January, though October/November are recommended as boxes might be used by winter roosting birds. Eggs must be disposed of – it is illegal to collect the eggs of any bird.

Robert and Jane watch as Joanne takes a turn up the ladder.

Robert and Jane watch as Joanne takes a turn up the ladder.

It is not unusual for nest boxes not to be used in the first year of having been put up. so a use rate of 45% is very good. Duncan must be congratulated for not only producing each of the boxes but also for his love of the woods and wildlife that lives within it. His delight at seeing the success rate can be seen in the picture here.

With all the boxes cleaned they are now ready for the 2015 breeding season and they will be monitored once again to see how successful they have been. Anyone wishing to join the Friends of River Shuttle (who regularly meet to clean the river of rubbish and arrange events for children and families) should contact fots-thames21@hotmail.co.uk

(All photographs in this article were taken by Ralph Todd)

Posted in Bexley Woods, Bird watching, Friends of the Shuttle, Uncategorized, Volunteering | 2 Comments

Rainbows, Brownies and Girl guides learn about water, wildlife and sustainability at Crossness

On Saturday 11th October, Thames Water’s Crossness Nature Reserve and Crossness Sewage Treatment Works hosted lots of Rainbows, Brownies and Girl guides groups from across the Bexley borough.

As the first borough to receive our rolling metering programme, we thought it was important to engage with our younger stakeholders to learn about water efficiency, and to learn about our Bin It – Don’t Block It campaign where we encourage responsible use of drains, requesting that residents do not put anything other than human waste and toilet paper down the toilets (including the supposedly ‘flushable’ moist wipes) and do not put fat down the sink which creates blockages in the form of the famed ‘fatbergs.’

The younger audiences (Rainbows and Brownies, aged 5-10) received tours of Crossness Nature Reserve, where they were able to see, and hear about, the newly extended Sewage Treatment Works from the top-storey of the bird hide; see the Crossness outfall and the Protected Area of the reserve. As well as learning about the importance of the reserve for its flora and fauna, they learned about how it is possible to measure water quality biologically by looking at the species diversity and abundance in rivers, ponds and ditches.

Brownies and Rainbows at Crossness Nature Reserve. (Photo: Karen Sutton)

Brownies and Rainbows at Crossness Nature Reserve. (Photo: Karen Sutton)

The Girl guide groups were treated to full tours of Crossness STW – one of Europe’s largest Sewage Treatment Works, and they learned about the processes in place to deal with sewage in a fun and engaging way.

A fantastic space was hired at The Link Thamesmead (containing a climbing wall!!), where all groups undertook a variety of fun, but educational, games and exercises designed by Thames Water’s Water Efficiency team.

H2O for Life activities at The Link

H2O for Life activities at The Link. (Photo: Karen Sutton)

The H2O 4 Life partnership with Girlguiding has been short-listed in this year’s Sustainability Leaders Awards in the Stakeholder Engagement category. We will know if we have picked up an award at the Awards ceremony on 19th November (World Toilet Day!!).

We got so many young people attending on the day, that it was a bit of a whistle-stop tour of all areas.

The Rainbows and Brownies groups are arranging return visits to the nature reserve so that they can see more of the site, and so that they can have a go at pond-dipping, mini-beasting and other wildlife-based activities.

Karen  Sutton. Reserve Manager.

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Shuttle team in Bexley Woods clean-up

A beautiful Autumn morning in Bexley Woods was the setting for Friends of the Shuttle’s latest river clean.  We managed to clear several significant in-stream blockages, mostly caused by large fallen tree branches trapping smaller twigs, leaves and rubbish.  The legacy of Hurricane Gonzalo?  We were unsuccessful in our attempt to remove a child’s bike very firmly sunk into the river bed but will be returning with shovels! 4 volunteers also collected 4 bags of rubbish, 4 bags of recyclables and several lengths of plastic guttering.

Friends of the Shuttle team members clearing litter from the river in Bexley Woods. (Photo: Jane Stout)

Friends of the Shuttle team members clearing litter from the river in Bexley Woods. (Photo: Jane Stout)

It was lovely to see the new bird-boxes put up last week in preparation for next year’s breeding season.  Bexley Woods, always a beautiful place for a walk, nature-watch or simple contemplation, is looking particularly beautiful at the moment with the leaves tumbling from the trees and is well worth a visit.  The next FotS event will be on Thursday 6th November.  Details to follow.  Existing and new volunteers welcome.  To register your interest please email fots-thames21@hotmail.co.uk.

Jane Stout

Posted in Bexley Woods, Friends of the Shuttle, River Shuttle, Rivers, Volunteering | Leave a comment

Cray crew tackle mini madness and sofa shame

The six Cray Riverkeepers out on Tuesday (October 21st), led by Michael Heath, were confronted by the horrendous sight of a large section of cut-up mini sat on the riverbed along footpath 106, and a sofa trapped in a large tree branch that had fallen across the river nearby. Both were successfully removed after some adept work with ropes, a grappling hook and the application of some old-fashioned brute strength.

The task was made more difficult by the fact they had to be got up a large vertical drop where the bank is held back by sheet piling. Due to the depth of the river, the sofa had to be prised free from the obstruction, and then allowed to float down to waiting Riverkeepers standing in the water in waders. Three shopping trolleys and a large amount of recyclable and non-recyclable litter were also cleared from the river and banks.

Section of cut-up mini dumped in the Cray, downstream of the Crayford town centre. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

Section of cut-up mini dumped in the Cray, downstream of the Crayford town centre. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

Michael Heath and Chris Rose manoeuvre the car into position for removal. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

Michael Heath and Chris Rose manoeuvre the car remains into position for removal. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

Brian Riches stands by to attach a grappling hook and ropes. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

Brian Riches stands by to attach a grappling hook and ropes. (Photo: Ron Pearson) 

Chris Rose and Michael Heath after 'catching' the sofa. It doesn't look big, but all the stuffing had soaked up lots of water, so it was extremely heavy. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

Chris Rose and Michael Heath after ‘catching’ the sofa. It doesn’t look big, but all the stuffing had soaked up lots of water, so it was extremely heavy. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

Malcolm, Brian and Bob ponder an 'engineering' solution to getting the heavy water-filled sofa up a seven foot vertical drop. A combo of grappling hook and a lasso arrangement eventually did the trick. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

Malcolm, Brian and Bob ponder an ‘engineering’ solution to getting the heavy water-filled sofa up a seven foot vertical drop. A combo of grappling hook and a lasso arrangement eventually did the trick. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

So-fa, so good - Bob, Malcolm, Chris, Michael and Brian celebrate success before dismantling the offending item in situ to get down to pieces light enough to barrow away. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

So-fa, so good – Bob, Malcolm, Chris, Michael and Brian celebrate success before dismantling the offending item in situ, in order to get it down to pieces light enough to barrow away. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

The rest of the rubbish. The shopping trolleys had been put in the van ready for return to a well-known Crayford supermarket. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

The rest of the rubbish. The shopping trolleys had been put in the van ready for return to a well-known Crayford supermarket. (Photo: Ron Pearson)

Overall the team put in 18 person-hours of work, but there was a significant amount of rubbish in the river still to be removed, which will require boat work.

Thames21 Cray Project Officer Michael Heath said ‘This is the worst example of pre-meditated dumping on this stretch of the river, which is just downstream of Crayford town centre, in a long time. Both the car remains and sofa would have required at least two or three people to get them along the bank and into the river. We would urge anyone who has any information about who was responsible to contact the police.’

Posted in Cray Riverkeepers, Crayford, River Cray, Rivers, Thames21, Volunteering | Leave a comment

‘Fact-finding mission’ in Greenwich

Thames Road Wetland Site Manager Chris Rose, and Thames21 Cray Project Officer Michael Heath, were at Sutcliffe Park in Greenwich last Friday (17th October) looking at the ‘Sustainable Urban Drainage’ solution there, created by restoring part of the River Quaggy by diverting some of the water out of an enclosed culvert that dog-legs around the park margin, and sending it back through the middle of the park itself.

ChrisRose (left) and Michael Heath (centre), with QWAG memebers Lawrence and Dave, looking at the point where the Quaggy rejoins the culvert. (Photo: Pamela Zollicoffer)

Chris Rose (left) and Michael Heath (centre), with QWAG member Dave, looking at the point where the Quaggy rejoins the culvert. Thames21 Ravensbourne Catchment Co-ordinator Lawrence Collins is on the platform in the background.   (Photo: Pamela Zollicoffer)

The reason for the visit was that Chris is giving a talk on TRW  to the Quaggy Waterways Action Group on November 19th, and they are interested in comparing and contrasting this Bexley site with what they have in Sutcliffe Park.

Sutcliffe Park doing its job holding back and absorbing flood overflow water in January 2014. (Photo: Pamela Zollicoffer)

Sutcliffe Park doing its job holding back and absorbing flood overflow water in January 2014. (Photo: Pamela Zollicoffer)

The one obvious flaw in the design is that some of the adjoining pathway,  and associated benches, are too low down in relation to the river channel and were standing under and in water at the time of the visit.

From a wildlife point  of view, the site has developed well, but in terms of maintaining a wetland flora, and public amenity in respect of views of the river, it would benefit from copping and pollarding some of the Willows every winter. These have colonised in significant numbers and are well on the way to creating wet woodland, a valuable habitat in its own right, and parts could be left to go that way, but if views and access to the water became too shut off, there may be a risk that public support for this scheme and others like it might dwindle.

Posted in Greenwich, Parks, Rivers, Sustainable Urban Drainage, Thames21 | Leave a comment