Labour councillors visit remediation works at Coldharbour Lane.

Three of Havering’s Labour councillors visited the ongoing remediation works at Coldharbour Lane in Rainham on Friday last week.

Cabinet member for Climate Change and Flooding, Keith Darvill (Heaton Ward) was joined by Mayor of Havering and Beam Park ward councillor Trevor Mckeever and Beam Park colleague, Councillor Matthew Stanton.

This project, aimed at converting waste ground into a thriving wetland extension of the Purfleet RSPB reserve, came to the attention of local councillors when residents asked them to check what substances were being spread over the ground.

“A worried resident thought it might have been lime, but we reached out to Land and Water and they told us it was chalk, dug out from the new super-sewer project in central London,” Councillor Mckeever told the Havering Daily. “The material is mainly brought in via barges to a nearby jetty, which is much more environmentally friendly than having lorries going back and forth to the site.”

The new man-made lakes are lined with clay and then filled by rainwater as the whole site effectively drains down into them. “It’s what the RSPB calls a ‘distressed habitat’, “according to Councillor Matthew Stanton. “The clay they use is low in nutrients, so there will be no trees growing, it will be reeds, grasses, and shrubs. This will improve biodiversity and encourage the wading birds which the RSPB intend the site to be a haven for.”

The site is being prepared in sections, and Land & Water’s Project Manager Tom Melhuish
says the whole project will be completed by 2040, so there will be lots of material still added to the site from different construction projects throughout the region.

“Obviously the planned Lower Thames Crossing would be a source of a large amount of waste material, and to be able to utilise it for a project like this would be beneficial to all parties” Councillor Darvill told the Havering Daily. “This project also has a great partnership with Bangor University, with a series of lagoons which all have controlled inflow and outflow, the university is able to conduct several varied experiments at once, including finding out how various plants could be used to remove contaminants from the water around them. We would like to see Land and Water give some presentations in Havering schools and colleges about their work, not just what they are doing in Rainham but about the company’s varied work in general.”