It comes after the mayor promised in his manifesto to bring London’s waterways up to a “swimmable” level of cleanliness by 2034, reports Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

Sir Sadiq Khan has announced more than £7m of funding from City Hall and Transport for London (TfL) to stop road run-off pollution entering waterways, as he pursues his pledge to create ‘swimmable rivers’ across the capital.

It comes after the mayor promised in his manifesto to bring London’s waterways up to a “swimmable” level of cleanliness by 2034.

Khan’s team said the £7.15m funding package will enable “large-scale rewilding, and provide funding from the Green Roots Fund for community groups, charities and others to deliver nature projects for waterways”.

The money will also be put towards preventing run-off pollution entering rivers and streams, which degrades water quality and can kill aquatic life. Run-off occurs when pollutants – such as fertilisers, oil and pesticides – are washed into waterways when it rains.

The funding announcement was accompanied by the mayor hosting a roundtable meeting on Thursday (13th) to discuss how different agencies can work together to clean up the capital’s rivers.

The summit was held in a packed-out room in the Engine House at Walthamstow Wetlands, and included senior representatives from Thames Water, the London Wildlife Trust, TfL, charities and others.

However, Zack Polanski, chair of the London Assembly’s environment committee, took to social media to complain about the lack of an invitation for him or his colleagues – who work on a cross-party basis to scrutinise the mayor’s environmental policies.

Polanski, who is deputy leader of the Green Party and was speaking in a personal capacity rather than as committee chairman, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “It’s very disappointing that the environment committee didn’t receive an invite to the roundtable in our important role as the voice of Londoners.

“I personally want to ask questions about the urgency to nationalise Thames Water and both I and the committee have been prevented from engaging in the roundtable.”

Approached for a response to Polanski, a spokesperson for the mayor said: “Today’s event was held to kickstart work to improve London’s waterways and included a diverse range of participants.

“The deputy mayor for environment and energy regularly attends the London Assembly’s environment committee to update them on the mayor’s plans to clean up London’s waterways.”

They also appeared to indicate that Polanski and his committee may be involved at future stages of the process, by saying that Thursday’s roundtable was “just the start” of Khan’s efforts to create swimmable rivers.

The mayor told the LDRS that the policy of cleaning up London’s waterways was “an issue of social justice and environmental justice”.

He added: “What you’ve got today is the coming together of all the key individuals and groups – we’ll be working towards a clean and healthy waterways plan. But also we’ve had today an announcement of significant funds – not just from City Hall and TfL – but from Thames Water and the London Wildlife Trust.”

Khan was joined on his visit to the Wetlands by TV presenter and author Steve Backshall, who has thrown his weight behind the mayor’s plan.

Backshall said: “It’s a massive part of our wellbeing, particularly in a big city like London.

“For me, I’ve spent the last five or six years just rampaging against Thames Water and against the outages of sewage into our waterways. To see this, as a positive first step to a better future, is a big deal.”

Chris Weston, CEO of Thames Water, was not made available for interviews with journalists on the day of the roundtable.

In a statement released as part of City Hall’s press release however, he said: “Like our customers, we care deeply about our rivers.

“Our sewage works upgrades, the Lee Tunnel and Thames Tideway Tunnel are already protecting the tidal Thames and reducing sewage discharges by 95%.

“Today marks the start of the next phase of improvements with a £1.8bn investment programme that shifts the focus from the Thames to its tributaries and includes a major new programme to reduce sewage overflows on the Roding, Wandle, Lee and Brent.

“We’re committed to the mayor’s ambition for partnership working and I’m delighted to announce the launch of a new £20m fund for environment and community groups, whose work and insights are having such a positive impact on the health of our rivers.”

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