The River Lea is congested with rubbish. In the last tidy up, volunteers found 17 bus tyres, 2 mopeds and a mattress. They claim local authorities are ignoring fly-tipping.

The last time authorities took an interest in the river was in 2012, in preparation for the London Olympics. Since then, no one has claimed responsibility for tackling fly-tipping.

Fallen trees, weeds, and a plant called hydrocotlye are also clogging up the river.

This limits river flow and  is highly damaging to the local environment. Tottenham residents also say it’s an eyesore.

Volunteers clear the River Lea of fly-tipping rubbish and other debris.

Fly-tipping is a criminal offence. Yet a community of boaters who live on the moorings feel frustrated by the lack of action.

Alongside the mounting litter, a recent oil spill on the River Lea has caused widespread outrage.

A local resident tweeted “One month since the oil spill and it still has not been contained or cleaned”

Local residents have now set up a petition which has already received over 3,000 signatures, demanding effective environmental protection of the waterways.

An open letter has also been sent to relevant government agencies. The letter criticises the lack of clarity between Canal Trust and the Environmental Agency for responsibility, alongside the lack of evidence of any emergency response contingency plan or strategy.

“There are enough people that care…”

Melissa Robertson, who has been boating  along this stretch of the River Lea for over ten years, said “There are enough people that care and love the back river to be part of the tidy up”.

She added, however, that the community alone cannot maintain the river. She also said that local authorities were prioritising building development.

Community-led mission

Ben Fenton, from Thames21, manages the Love the Lea Programme. He commented, “The litter choking the section of the Lea is very hazardous for water birds and fish, it won’t break down over time”.

“Unfortunately, litter in rivers is no one’s responsibility, so here at Thames21 we are offering free training to local people to give them the skills to tackle this problem”.

“We trained up a local group, The Stonebridge Lock Coalition, who are doing a fantastic job at tackling the weed and litter at this location but it will take time and lots of help”.

Stonebridge Lock Coalition’s main objective is community-led safeguarding of local green spaces. It hopes to reverse the drastic biodiversity decline.

A spokesperson from Stonebridge Lock Coalition added, “As demonstrated by the number of people who have participated in the voluntary group, there is scope for the Environment Agency to invest money” in this section of the river.

Budgets slashed

Yet Quentin Given, Coordinator for Tottenham and Wood Green Friends of the Earth, commented that “the Environment Agency have had their budget slashed” and “haven’t got the number of inspectors they used to have”.

“Doing proactive campaigns is much harder for them because they need the resources to do the job, otherwise it’s expensive to do the clean up”.

Both the local community and volunteers are calling for better communication between residents and stakeholders.

To get involved in helping tidy up the River Lea, get in touch with the Stonebridge Lock Coalition through their Facebook page @StonebridgeLock.

Tune in to City News at 4:00pm for the full report. 

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