Quaggy Links
Restoring and improving access to the River Quaggy between Chinbrook Meadows and Sutcliffe Park
Introduction
London’s waterways provide vital networks of blue-green space for people and wildlife alike.
In 2020, a review of river restoration across Greater London confirmed that more than 38km of waterway has been restored since 2000, and highlighting the opportunities for much more to be done. Whilst London's 600km of water network offers multiple benefits, ranging from greater resilience to climate change impacts to improved health and community cohesion, much of it suffers from the impacts of urbanisation or remains hidden and undiscovered behind fences and unkempt vegetation.
A section of the River Quaggy, in South East London, adjoining three separate local authority areas of Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich, offers great potential to restore the river and incorporate these opportunities using a Catchment Based Approach .
Quaggy Links, conceived by local Quaggy Waterways Action Group or QWAG , is a landscape-scale project that aims to improve the ecology, functional habitat and hydro-morphological processes of the river coupled with increasing public access to, and connection with the River Quaggy between two iconic and highly popular river restoration sites at Chinbrook Meadows and Sutcliffe Park , both completed in the early 2000s.
This storymap presents the first stage of the Quaggy Links project, to present a portfolio of restoration ideas, categorised by their benefits and constraints in preparation for the next stage of working towards delivery. The following maps and information will be used by the Ravensbourne catchment partners and local authorities to develop individual feasibility studies on the restoration ideas can then be developed further.
The scope of this partnership project sets out to meet key environmental, social and economic aims of the following strategic plans: the London Recovery Programme and Green New Deal Mission: Enhancing Green Spaces and Climate Resilience, the London Plan and National Park City status, and the London Environment Strategy; and local council strategies for Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich.
Vision
"Our shared partnership vision is of an improved river Quaggy providing wider benefits for people and nature at a catchment scale, where public voices are listened to so that key enhancement and improvement opportunities for our rivers are identified... River restoration works as shown by the successes at Chinbrook Meadows and at Sutcliffe Park. Now the last major restoration of the River Quaggy beckons. We call it 'Quaggy Links' because it would link those existing restorations and could open up whole new routes for people to explore" Paul de Zylva, Chair of Quaggy Waterways Action Group
Conceived by the Quaggy Waterways Action Group, this catchment scale project aims to improve the ecology, hydromorphological quality and habitat function, coupled with increasing public access to, and engagement with, the riparian corridor. The project is guided by the objectives of the EA’s 25 Year Environment Plan, Thames River Basin Management Plan (RBMP) and the Ravensbourne Catchment Improvement Plan .
The initial goals to achieve the vision are to:
- Engage with the local community and stakeholders to gather local knowledge and technical data on the Quaggy Links riparian corridor;
- Identify opportunities to improve the biodiversity of the River Quaggy by increasing in-channel physical habitat and flow diversity and availability, benefiting a range of invertebrates and fish species;
- Identify opportunities to enhance and sustain hydromorphological diversity, functioning and resilience through a range of techniques;
- Identify opportunities to reduce invasive non-native species and establish long term management plans.
- Create a portfolio of project opportunities along the Quaggy Links section to be developed further.
Location
The Quaggy Links project extends along the River Quaggy between two existing, highly popular restoration sites; Chinbrook Meadows in the London Borough of Lewisham, to Sutcliffe Park in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. This 4km reach of the River Quaggy passes through several green spaces, providing opportunity to deliver significant improvements inline with the project goals.
This stretch of the River Quaggy flows through and connects communities along the London Boroughs of Bromley and Lewisham, and the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
Who's involved
The project brings together a wide range of organisations and local volunteers who are active across all three boroughs, share an interest in improving the River Quaggy's natural qualities and increasing the benefits arising from a healthy accessible river environment to local communities.
The Quaggy Links project aims to be fully inclusive, with involvement opportunities ranging from contributing local information and expert knowledge, technical expertise, and providing ideas and feedback through consultations and workshops.
- Quaggy Waterways Action Group (QWAG)
- Environment Agency
- Lewisham Biodiversity Partnership
- The Baring Trust
- Capel Manor College
- Rivers and People
- LB Lewisham
- LB Bromley
- RB Greenwich
- Glendale
- idVerde
- Imperial College
- the many Friends of Groups in the area
Restoration opportunities
1. Sydenham Cottages Nature Reserve River and Wetland Centre
Sydenham Cottages Nature Reserve is an underused nature reserve once connected to the watercourse. It is classified as Metropolitan Open Land and a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation – Local Level.
2. Bannatyne’s Health Club river improvement opportunities
Opportunity: This open greenspace, located adjacent to the Quaggy, appears to offer opportunities to restore marginal habitats and a more natural connection to the floodplain and public access improvements.
3. Capel Manor College partnership at Jevington Way
Capel Manor College are keen to collaborate with Thames21 and QWAG to continue, and develop a programme of activities to improve and manage a stretch of the Quaggy in their grounds, flowing parallel to Jevington Way. Working with local communities, this option could offer multiple environmental and social benefits by linking river restoration and habitat management to their syllabus, creating hands-on opportunities for their students to apply their theoretical learning, develop practical skills in land-management and build connections with local volunteer networks.
4. Biodiversity Enhancement at Mottingham Lane
A current project led by Greening South East London, an environmental group of volunteers in Lewisham and Greenwich, in partnership with the EA aims to improve the habitat quality of this river reach and adjoining open space, and build community engagement. The EA have proposed renovation of the trash screen, plus two river restoration options to slow the river flow and increase biodiversity:
5. Harmony Woods
Opportunity: A narrow strip of greenspace known as Harmony Woods, located between the busy A20 and mainline railway, presents an opportunity to re-naturalise a short channelised stretch of the river Quaggy flowing through species-rich meadows. Removal of the concrete channel could create new habitat, improve the flow diversity, increase floodplain connectivity and public amenity value.
6. Fish and eel passage
Opportunity: The River Quaggy leaves Harmony Woods through a railway embankment culvert, as shown above. This infrastructure creates a barrier to fish migration, therefore, installation of a fish pass would be beneficial.
7. Civil Services Sports Ground at Eltham Palace Rd
Opportunity: The Quaggy strikes a linear course within a concrete channel through the Civil Services Sports Ground both south and north of Eltham Palace Road.
8. Improve access to, and engagement with, the Quaggy Links river corridor
To complement the restoration of the river corridor itself, Quaggy Links also seeks to improve and extend public access, and contribute to public health aims, by increasing the usage and benefits of existing paths and opening up new routes.
Natural Capital & ParticipatoryDecision making
In parallel with the Quaggy Links project development, Imperial College London are leading a research project to investigate the links between Natural Capital and participatory decision making within the Ravensbourne Catchment, focusing on the Quaggy Links reach.
Taking the concepts of natural capital and ecosystem services and drawing on wider contextual information, such as the London Mayor's Green Infrastructure Focus Map , this research will explore how the accessibility and quality of the natural environment, contributes to the benefits people get from their surroundings, and how the recognition, identification and presentation of these can be used to improve community participation in inclusive catchment-scale decision making.
Find out more
If you're keen to get involved and hear more about Quaggy Links project development, please contact the Ravensbourne catchment partnership host, Thames21 via the link below: