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Paul Powlesland

@paulpowlesland • 50,056 subscribers

Rights of nature campaigner, Barrister & guardian of the River Roding. I love protecting trees & restoring rivers. Founder @lawfornature.

Shorts

A stunning reminder of why we cannot give up on our rivers yesterday, as I stumbled across an adult eel on the Roding for the first time, lounging in the shallows in the shade of a council tower block & within earshot of the North Circular. This now rare & magical sight used to be common, until eel populations crashed on the Roding in the 1980’s & have not recovered. Seeking to understand & reverse this population crash should surely be a key role for the governments environmental regulator, but as usual they have done nothing to improve water quality or remove barriers to eel migration. Worse, they are actively blocking my efforts to help the eel population recover. Ordinarily, baby eels (elvers) for restocking are expensive to buy. However, I managed to secure a kind donation of elvers from fishermen on the River Severn (where the elvers often get stuck behind barriers on the river). I applied for my Environment Agency restocking permit like a good boy & all they had to do to help recover eel populations on the Roding was to say yes. Perhaps predictably, my application was rejected, because there was no positive evidence that reintroducing eels to the Roding would be a good thing. Perhaps most annoyingly, my application to restock eels on the Roding was rejected because reintroducing them would interfere with the EA’s monitoring of their continued decline. I asked what would happen if I went ahead & released the elvers anyway & was told that the EA would fine me up to £50,000. Yet another example of the malevolent uselessness of the EA: obsessed with procedure, but will do absolutely sod all to actually reverse the decline in our rivers.

A stunning reminder of why we cannot give up on our rivers yesterday, as I stumbled across an adult eel on the Roding for the first time, lounging in the shallows in the shade of a council tower block & within earshot of the North Circular. This now rare & magical sight used to be common, until eel populations crashed on the Roding in the 1980’s & have not recovered. Seeking to understand & reverse this population crash should surely be a key role for the governments environmental regulator, but as usual they have done nothing to improve water quality or remove barriers to eel migration. Worse, they are actively blocking my efforts to help the eel population recover. Ordinarily, baby eels (elvers) for restocking are expensive to buy. However, I managed to secure a kind donation of elvers from fishermen on the River Severn (where the elvers often get stuck behind barriers on the river). I applied for my Environment Agency restocking permit like a good boy & all they had to do to help recover eel populations on the Roding was to say yes. Perhaps predictably, my application was rejected, because there was no positive evidence that reintroducing eels to the Roding would be a good thing. Perhaps most annoyingly, my application to restock eels on the Roding was rejected because reintroducing them would interfere with the EA’s monitoring of their continued decline. I asked what would happen if I went ahead & released the elvers anyway & was told that the EA would fine me up to £50,000. Yet another example of the malevolent uselessness of the EA: obsessed with procedure, but will do absolutely sod all to actually reverse the decline in our rivers.

218,076 Aufrufe

I was on my boat late last night & thought I heard a scrabbling noise coming from outside. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye & looked up to see a fox had come through my open boat hatch & was climbing into my bed! It didn’t flinch or run away when I turned to it & instead slowly sussed me out & gently sauntered back off the boat. It feels like the longer I live in nature, the more comfortable all creatures become with me and my presence.

I was on my boat late last night & thought I heard a scrabbling noise coming from outside. I saw movement out of the corner of my eye & looked up to see a fox had come through my open boat hatch & was climbing into my bed! It didn’t flinch or run away when I turned to it & instead slowly sussed me out & gently sauntered back off the boat. It feels like the longer I live in nature, the more comfortable all creatures become with me and my presence.

498,369 Aufrufe

The continuing efforts of local river guardians to investigate the Cherwell waste dump are really highlighting the utter incompetence of Environment Agency & their failure to uphold the law. It now appears that complaints about the rubbish were made by local people as far back as May & the EA actually attended site in July. Having seen the devastation themselves, did they move to shut it down, as they could have done by blocking the site entrance & seeking a simple court order? Nope, they sent the owner of the land a sodding “stern letter” & let the dumping continue until late October! Failing in the same way as they did at Hoad’s Wood shows this is a systemic failure by the EA & needs government intervention. The investigation didn’t properly start until local river guardians contacted the media this week. Even now, their investigations are bearing more fruit than the EA’s. They guardians have found waste with names & addresses & traced it to the owner, who confirmed they put it in their municipal waste collection. If confirmed this shows the waste is the result of large scale fraud or corruption in the local authority waste management. Perhaps worst of all, the EA are now denying any duty to clean up the rubbish and plan to just leave it there & “monitor” it. Local river guardians have made a petition demanding a clean up. Please do sign it & support their campaign.

The continuing efforts of local river guardians to investigate the Cherwell waste dump are really highlighting the utter incompetence of Environment Agency & their failure to uphold the law. It now appears that complaints about the rubbish were made by local people as far back as May & the EA actually attended site in July. Having seen the devastation themselves, did they move to shut it down, as they could have done by blocking the site entrance & seeking a simple court order? Nope, they sent the owner of the land a sodding “stern letter” & let the dumping continue until late October! Failing in the same way as they did at Hoad’s Wood shows this is a systemic failure by the EA & needs government intervention. The investigation didn’t properly start until local river guardians contacted the media this week. Even now, their investigations are bearing more fruit than the EA’s. They guardians have found waste with names & addresses & traced it to the owner, who confirmed they put it in their municipal waste collection. If confirmed this shows the waste is the result of large scale fraud or corruption in the local authority waste management. Perhaps worst of all, the EA are now denying any duty to clean up the rubbish and plan to just leave it there & “monitor” it. Local river guardians have made a petition demanding a clean up. Please do sign it & support their campaign.

325,605 Aufrufe

In exquisite timing, local river guardians discovered two significant sewage discharges on the Roding today. The quantity & volume was so big that they were visibly polluting the river (& likely poisoning aquatic life) for hundreds of metres downstream. Even worse, this stretch of the River at Wanstead Park is one of the most popular natural swimming & paddling spots in East London that will be very busy during the heatwave this week. This deluge of sewage is putting people’s lives (particularly paddling children) at risk. Perhaps Thames Water 💧 could use some of the million pound bonus they gave out to stop the sewage & warn local people instead?

In exquisite timing, local river guardians discovered two significant sewage discharges on the Roding today. The quantity & volume was so big that they were visibly polluting the river (& likely poisoning aquatic life) for hundreds of metres downstream. Even worse, this stretch of the River at Wanstead Park is one of the most popular natural swimming & paddling spots in East London that will be very busy during the heatwave this week. This deluge of sewage is putting people’s lives (particularly paddling children) at risk. Perhaps Thames Water 💧 could use some of the million pound bonus they gave out to stop the sewage & warn local people instead?

57,316 Aufrufe

Hi Environment Agency, I planned to go swimming in my river (River Roding) and checked the water quality and it’s full of sewage (often 5-7 ppm ammonia near outfalls) due to illegal outfalls putting over a billion litres of raw sewage into the river every year. The EA has not prosecuted a single one of these illegal spills or even asked Thames Water to fix them. What should I do now?

Hi Environment Agency, I planned to go swimming in my river (River Roding) and checked the water quality and it’s full of sewage (often 5-7 ppm ammonia near outfalls) due to illegal outfalls putting over a billion litres of raw sewage into the river every year. The EA has not prosecuted a single one of these illegal spills or even asked Thames Water to fix them. What should I do now?

138,625 Aufrufe

An historic day, as the River Wye becomes the first river in the UK to have its rights recognised by local authorities across its catchment. Hundreds of people gathered on the banks of the river to watch as representatives from Monmouthshire, Forest of Dean & Powys Councils, Herefordshire County Council, the Wye Valley National Landscape & Bannau Brycheiniog National Park signed the pledge recognising the rivers rights and then spoke about why they had done so what it would mean for the relationship of their organisation to the river. It went beyond legal formalities into something of a service of thanks & honour to the river, with poetry, a choir singing songs, & offerings to the river. It has been a real honour to witness & be part of the surging movement towards river rights & guardianship on the Wye. Four years ago I met & advised Herefordshire Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst, who wanted to put a voice of the river on the Wye Nutrient Management Board. A year ago I sat around a fire on the banks of the river with other Wye guardians & Earth lawyers as the idea of a charter was first mooted. To see it become a reality, & supported by 6 public bodies, in just a year is astonishing. Now, of course, comes the hard work of making those rights a reality. But given the hundreds of active river guardians, & increasing public pressure to protect & restore the river, if it can be done on any river, it will be done on the Wye.

An historic day, as the River Wye becomes the first river in the UK to have its rights recognised by local authorities across its catchment. Hundreds of people gathered on the banks of the river to watch as representatives from Monmouthshire, Forest of Dean & Powys Councils, Herefordshire County Council, the Wye Valley National Landscape & Bannau Brycheiniog National Park signed the pledge recognising the rivers rights and then spoke about why they had done so what it would mean for the relationship of their organisation to the river. It went beyond legal formalities into something of a service of thanks & honour to the river, with poetry, a choir singing songs, & offerings to the river. It has been a real honour to witness & be part of the surging movement towards river rights & guardianship on the Wye. Four years ago I met & advised Herefordshire Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst, who wanted to put a voice of the river on the Wye Nutrient Management Board. A year ago I sat around a fire on the banks of the river with other Wye guardians & Earth lawyers as the idea of a charter was first mooted. To see it become a reality, & supported by 6 public bodies, in just a year is astonishing. Now, of course, comes the hard work of making those rights a reality. But given the hundreds of active river guardians, & increasing public pressure to protect & restore the river, if it can be done on any river, it will be done on the Wye.

84,430 Aufrufe

I had to spend my 35th birthday at home, isolating with Covid, so I decided to spend the day planting 35 black poplar trees. Five’s years later & a dozen of these trees survived & they’re starting to get massive: outgrowing the local lampposts & almost ready to climb! As I turn 40 tomorrow, I decided to repeat the exercise, planting 40 trees (18 blank poplar & 22 willow). Digging into the wet, silty mud beside the river, it was hard work, but immensely satisfying to mark the passage of time & a big life transition by giving a gift to the river, and not just receiving.

I had to spend my 35th birthday at home, isolating with Covid, so I decided to spend the day planting 35 black poplar trees. Five’s years later & a dozen of these trees survived & they’re starting to get massive: outgrowing the local lampposts & almost ready to climb! As I turn 40 tomorrow, I decided to repeat the exercise, planting 40 trees (18 blank poplar & 22 willow). Digging into the wet, silty mud beside the river, it was hard work, but immensely satisfying to mark the passage of time & a big life transition by giving a gift to the river, and not just receiving.

101,049 Aufrufe

One of the best publicly-accesible rewilding sites in London is due to be enclosed & destroyed for artificial pitches for Tottenham Hotspur. I visited Whitewebbs Park in Enfield to see why it’s special & why local people are against this destructive sell off by Enfield Council 🧵

One of the best publicly-accesible rewilding sites in London is due to be enclosed & destroyed for artificial pitches for Tottenham Hotspur. I visited Whitewebbs Park in Enfield to see why it’s special & why local people are against this destructive sell off by Enfield Council 🧵

269,441 Aufrufe

Illegal sewage outfalls are a major issue on the River Roding, as they are around much of the country. The EA has not brought any prosecutions for illegal sewage discharges on the Roding this century. In 2022, I discovered an illegal sewage outfall on the Aldersbrook discharging raw shit into the river. I reported it to the EA, who did absolutely nothing. I then had to campaign in my spare time for 3 years to get the outfall fixed, attending meetings with the council & Thames Water & dealing with journalists. Eventually, the campaign worked & Thames Water spent £1 million fixing the outfall. Subsequently, I realised that the EA had no idea where all the illegal sewage outfalls on the river were, or which were most harmful. I therefore went out on the river myself with a bucket, in a pair of waders to find & analyse all the illegal outfalls on the river. I found dozens of them, spilling over a billion litres of raw sewage illegally into the river every year. I have given the exact locations of all the illegal outfalls to the EA & they’ve done sweet FA. Raw sewage continues to pour into the river illegally & unchecked every minute of every day of the year, & parts of the river are now ecologically dead, as well as having e-coli levels more than 250 times the safe limit.

Illegal sewage outfalls are a major issue on the River Roding, as they are around much of the country. The EA has not brought any prosecutions for illegal sewage discharges on the Roding this century. In 2022, I discovered an illegal sewage outfall on the Aldersbrook discharging raw shit into the river. I reported it to the EA, who did absolutely nothing. I then had to campaign in my spare time for 3 years to get the outfall fixed, attending meetings with the council & Thames Water & dealing with journalists. Eventually, the campaign worked & Thames Water spent £1 million fixing the outfall. Subsequently, I realised that the EA had no idea where all the illegal sewage outfalls on the river were, or which were most harmful. I therefore went out on the river myself with a bucket, in a pair of waders to find & analyse all the illegal outfalls on the river. I found dozens of them, spilling over a billion litres of raw sewage illegally into the river every year. I have given the exact locations of all the illegal outfalls to the EA & they’ve done sweet FA. Raw sewage continues to pour into the river illegally & unchecked every minute of every day of the year, & parts of the river are now ecologically dead, as well as having e-coli levels more than 250 times the safe limit.

29,762 Aufrufe

Count Binface’s policy of making water company bosses swim in polluted rivers might sound ridiculous, but is actually far more effective as a response to the sewage crisis than anything Reform is proposing. There are lots of places I could take the bosses of Thames Water 💧 to on the River Roding, as we have dozens of completely illegal sewage spills to choose from. I think the ideal spot would have to be the Cran Brook though. It’s convenient to get to: just 15 minutes walk from an Elizabeth Line Station & Ilford town centre where hundreds of thousands of people live & work. But that doesn’t stop Thames Water constantly dumping 750,000,000 litres of raw sewage into the Roding via this brook every single year, whilst refusing to commit to our fair demand to stop all spills by 2030. I guess they might say it’s unsafe to swim in a cocktail of raw shit, cooking fat, toilet tissue & chemicals? But if this water is too unsafe & disgusting for them to touch, surely it’s not safe to discharge into our river? In trying to be silly, has Binface actually hit upon an eminently sensible policy that most people in Britain would support?

Count Binface’s policy of making water company bosses swim in polluted rivers might sound ridiculous, but is actually far more effective as a response to the sewage crisis than anything Reform is proposing. There are lots of places I could take the bosses of Thames Water 💧 to on the River Roding, as we have dozens of completely illegal sewage spills to choose from. I think the ideal spot would have to be the Cran Brook though. It’s convenient to get to: just 15 minutes walk from an Elizabeth Line Station & Ilford town centre where hundreds of thousands of people live & work. But that doesn’t stop Thames Water constantly dumping 750,000,000 litres of raw sewage into the Roding via this brook every single year, whilst refusing to commit to our fair demand to stop all spills by 2030. I guess they might say it’s unsafe to swim in a cocktail of raw shit, cooking fat, toilet tissue & chemicals? But if this water is too unsafe & disgusting for them to touch, surely it’s not safe to discharge into our river? In trying to be silly, has Binface actually hit upon an eminently sensible policy that most people in Britain would support?

15,134 Aufrufe

The EA has allowed invasive species like Himalayan Balsam to spread out of control, with no plan whatsoever to even contain this damaging plant, let alone eliminate it from our river. Every year that the plant is allowed to spread, the problem gets worse & harder to solve, with the rare marshes along the river now at seriously damaged & risking destruction. Local volunteers have stepped up to act where they have failed, organising small groups on WhatsApp to take responsibility for different sections of the river & destroy as many of the plants as possible before they set seed. Over this last summer alone, there have been dozens of events, where volunteers have walked & waded along the river to laboriously remove these plants. The EA has offered us no support whatsoever in this massive & important task.

The EA has allowed invasive species like Himalayan Balsam to spread out of control, with no plan whatsoever to even contain this damaging plant, let alone eliminate it from our river. Every year that the plant is allowed to spread, the problem gets worse & harder to solve, with the rare marshes along the river now at seriously damaged & risking destruction. Local volunteers have stepped up to act where they have failed, organising small groups on WhatsApp to take responsibility for different sections of the river & destroy as many of the plants as possible before they set seed. Over this last summer alone, there have been dozens of events, where volunteers have walked & waded along the river to laboriously remove these plants. The EA has offered us no support whatsoever in this massive & important task.

17,428 Aufrufe

The Environment Agency crisis comms swings into action ahead of the first episode of ‘Dirty Business’ tonight with the usual mix of gaslighting, cover up and half truths. They say they “act on breaches of environmental law”, but on my river, the Roding, there are dozens of illegal outfalls, spewing over a billion litres of raw sewage into the river every year and the Environment Agency has not brought a single prosecution this century. Not one! The evidence is not hard to find- many of these outfalls have been reported by the public for decades and run through parks & major population centres. There seems to be actual policy in place to just ignore rampant criminality, although we cannot say if this policy springs from inertia, incompetence, corruption or a mixture of all three. So that the EA cannot say I’m making this up, I’m going to post pictures, locations and data measurements from illegal outfalls on the Roding. First up is the Cran Brook. Running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at least 25 litres a second and ammonia concentrations of 5-7 PPM, this river is arguably the most polluted river in London, spewing 750 million litres of sewage & landfill leachate directly into the Roding, here:

The Environment Agency crisis comms swings into action ahead of the first episode of ‘Dirty Business’ tonight with the usual mix of gaslighting, cover up and half truths. They say they “act on breaches of environmental law”, but on my river, the Roding, there are dozens of illegal outfalls, spewing over a billion litres of raw sewage into the river every year and the Environment Agency has not brought a single prosecution this century. Not one! The evidence is not hard to find- many of these outfalls have been reported by the public for decades and run through parks & major population centres. There seems to be actual policy in place to just ignore rampant criminality, although we cannot say if this policy springs from inertia, incompetence, corruption or a mixture of all three. So that the EA cannot say I’m making this up, I’m going to post pictures, locations and data measurements from illegal outfalls on the Roding. First up is the Cran Brook. Running 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at least 25 litres a second and ammonia concentrations of 5-7 PPM, this river is arguably the most polluted river in London, spewing 750 million litres of sewage & landfill leachate directly into the Roding, here:

30,965 Aufrufe

Safety in numbers: some groups of Republican protesters have been able to gather & express their opinion, but the official Republic demo, with a programme of speeches & talks doesn’t seem to be going ahead due to the Met Police arresting the organisers in order to quash dissent.

Safety in numbers: some groups of Republican protesters have been able to gather & express their opinion, but the official Republic demo, with a programme of speeches & talks doesn’t seem to be going ahead due to the Met Police arresting the organisers in order to quash dissent.

89,333 Aufrufe

I was cycling down a busy cycle path in Stratford this evening when a tiny movement on the pavement caught my eye. I stopped & came face to face with the first newt I’ve ever seen in London! Bikes were wizzing back & forth dangerously close, so I escorted the newt across the path & set off again. I then immediately saw another newt crossing & in danger of being run over, so put my bike in the way of the traffic to escort that one over too. Realising that this might be a newt crossing place in the breeding season, I searched for more along the path. I found one sadly squashed to death, & another curled up in the middle of the path not moving- I carried it to the nearby pond where it luckily revived. I stayed for over an hour & helped 7 newts cross over in total. It was so fascinating to see these enigmatic creatures up close, & an honour to help them to help them go about their newty business in safety. #teamnewt

I was cycling down a busy cycle path in Stratford this evening when a tiny movement on the pavement caught my eye. I stopped & came face to face with the first newt I’ve ever seen in London! Bikes were wizzing back & forth dangerously close, so I escorted the newt across the path & set off again. I then immediately saw another newt crossing & in danger of being run over, so put my bike in the way of the traffic to escort that one over too. Realising that this might be a newt crossing place in the breeding season, I searched for more along the path. I found one sadly squashed to death, & another curled up in the middle of the path not moving- I carried it to the nearby pond where it luckily revived. I stayed for over an hour & helped 7 newts cross over in total. It was so fascinating to see these enigmatic creatures up close, & an honour to help them to help them go about their newty business in safety. #teamnewt

36,691 Aufrufe

Nothing like a warm sunny evening’s trespass on a private golf course to tackle invasive Himalayan Balsam that the landowner has allowed to spread out of control along our river.

Nothing like a warm sunny evening’s trespass on a private golf course to tackle invasive Himalayan Balsam that the landowner has allowed to spread out of control along our river.

12,123 Aufrufe

Today I joined Right to Roam and 400 people today in a mass swim trespass at Kinder Reservoir in the Peak District. The event was in commemoration of the anniversary of the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass, but with a very modern & pressing issue of access. How can it be that United Utilities can prevent us from swimming in the rivers & lakes that we are legally allowed to swim in by pouring sewage in them, but then forbid us from swimming in ‘their’ reservoir (which was given to them at privatisation) instead? So, with hundreds of others, I ignored the United Utilities security guard & had a cold but thrilling trespass swim in the sunshine among the rolling green hills of the Peak District, to demand the right to swim.

Today I joined Right to Roam and 400 people today in a mass swim trespass at Kinder Reservoir in the Peak District. The event was in commemoration of the anniversary of the Kinder Scout Mass Trespass, but with a very modern & pressing issue of access. How can it be that United Utilities can prevent us from swimming in the rivers & lakes that we are legally allowed to swim in by pouring sewage in them, but then forbid us from swimming in ‘their’ reservoir (which was given to them at privatisation) instead? So, with hundreds of others, I ignored the United Utilities security guard & had a cold but thrilling trespass swim in the sunshine among the rolling green hills of the Peak District, to demand the right to swim.

14,777 Aufrufe

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I recently got stopped & ticketed by the City of London Police for, & I kid you not, “cycling no handed”. Even though it’s clearly not an offence, the officer said they were ticketing me under the Human Rights Act as I was infringing other people’s Article 2 ‘Right to Life’, in case I fell off & injured them: utterly bonkers stuff. With bicycle theft basically legalised in the City due to the complete failure of the Police to bother investigating such thefts & people being regularly terrorised in London by e-bike phone muggers, it’s good to see the City of London Police concentrating the resources on what really matters.

I recently got stopped & ticketed by the City of London Police for, & I kid you not, “cycling no handed”. Even though it’s clearly not an offence, the officer said they were ticketing me under the Human Rights Act as I was infringing other people’s Article 2 ‘Right to Life’, in case I fell off & injured them: utterly bonkers stuff. With bicycle theft basically legalised in the City due to the complete failure of the Police to bother investigating such thefts & people being regularly terrorised in London by e-bike phone muggers, it’s good to see the City of London Police concentrating the resources on what really matters.

Paul Powlesland

4,317,607 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

Would you leave the banks of one of the ancient rivers of London looking like a rubbish dump? Environment Agency would. When they sent investigation teams down to the Aldersbrook earlier this year to threaten local volunteers with two years in jail for restoring the river without permission, they didn’t even bother to look at the the piles of junk and hazardous materials (including oil and fuel) on the abandoned allotment plots next to the river. Even worse, when I asked them to remove the rubbish and restore the brook themselves (given local volunteers aren’t allowed to do it) they refused. So their plan is, apparently, to leave the river to die and to prosecute anyone who dares to try & restore the river. However, local river guardians are not waiting for permission to do what the authorities have failed to do. In the absence of the EA, the local authority or the landowner doing anything about the waste on the banks of the Aldersbrook, we’re going to start cleaning it, ready for the full restoration of this section of the brook later in the winter.

Would you leave the banks of one of the ancient rivers of London looking like a rubbish dump? Environment Agency would. When they sent investigation teams down to the Aldersbrook earlier this year to threaten local volunteers with two years in jail for restoring the river without permission, they didn’t even bother to look at the the piles of junk and hazardous materials (including oil and fuel) on the abandoned allotment plots next to the river. Even worse, when I asked them to remove the rubbish and restore the brook themselves (given local volunteers aren’t allowed to do it) they refused. So their plan is, apparently, to leave the river to die and to prosecute anyone who dares to try & restore the river. However, local river guardians are not waiting for permission to do what the authorities have failed to do. In the absence of the EA, the local authority or the landowner doing anything about the waste on the banks of the Aldersbrook, we’re going to start cleaning it, ready for the full restoration of this section of the brook later in the winter.

Paul Powlesland

49,225 Aufrufe • vor 7 Tagen

Before & After… If anyone doubts the power of community action over the Environment Agency’s spineless inertia, you can walk to the outskirts of Ilford & walk along an ancient lost river to see for yourself. With 10 days of intense effort by dedicated volunteers, the river River Roding Trust managed to clean up & restore 250 metres of the Aldersbrook (about 1/3 of the brook). This allows a direct comparison between the parts of the brook we restored & those we haven’t got round to yet. These photos & videos are all from May 2026. The first is on a part of the Aldersbrook still to be restored & shows the old flood defences which are no longer needed & are killing the river but which the EA won’t remove unless we volunteers pay them £50,000 just for surveys. These defences have caused 2-3ft of stinking sludge & silt to build up over 70 years, such that the water in the brook is just a few centimetres deep. Combine with huge amounts of rubbish & and out of control knotweed infestation & the river ecosystem is essentially dead. A river that is older than England destroyed by official indifference. A hundred metres away, and it’s a different story. The rubbish & the invasive species (I sprayed the knotweed myself last autumn) are gone. The silt that used to clog the river is now spread on the banks & rapidly providing fertile ground for native plants. Instead of sludge, there’s 2-3ft of water, so fish have returned to the brook for the first time in decades, along with dragon flies, herons & a nesting moorhen. We river guardians knew our intervention would make a difference, but have been shocked at quite how quickly nature has come back. The restored Aldersbrook is now a rare jewel: pretty much the last fully natural tidal brook in London. The EA now has a choice. It can salvage some good from this situation & work with us to restore the remaining sections of the brook, or it can continue to do nothing. If the latter, river guardians *will* be back this winter to finish the job & the EA can see how well prosecuting volunteers for restoring a river without permission goes for them.

Before & After… If anyone doubts the power of community action over the Environment Agency’s spineless inertia, you can walk to the outskirts of Ilford & walk along an ancient lost river to see for yourself. With 10 days of intense effort by dedicated volunteers, the river River Roding Trust managed to clean up & restore 250 metres of the Aldersbrook (about 1/3 of the brook). This allows a direct comparison between the parts of the brook we restored & those we haven’t got round to yet. These photos & videos are all from May 2026. The first is on a part of the Aldersbrook still to be restored & shows the old flood defences which are no longer needed & are killing the river but which the EA won’t remove unless we volunteers pay them £50,000 just for surveys. These defences have caused 2-3ft of stinking sludge & silt to build up over 70 years, such that the water in the brook is just a few centimetres deep. Combine with huge amounts of rubbish & and out of control knotweed infestation & the river ecosystem is essentially dead. A river that is older than England destroyed by official indifference. A hundred metres away, and it’s a different story. The rubbish & the invasive species (I sprayed the knotweed myself last autumn) are gone. The silt that used to clog the river is now spread on the banks & rapidly providing fertile ground for native plants. Instead of sludge, there’s 2-3ft of water, so fish have returned to the brook for the first time in decades, along with dragon flies, herons & a nesting moorhen. We river guardians knew our intervention would make a difference, but have been shocked at quite how quickly nature has come back. The restored Aldersbrook is now a rare jewel: pretty much the last fully natural tidal brook in London. The EA now has a choice. It can salvage some good from this situation & work with us to restore the remaining sections of the brook, or it can continue to do nothing. If the latter, river guardians will be back this winter to finish the job & the EA can see how well prosecuting volunteers for restoring a river without permission goes for them.

Paul Powlesland

451,199 Aufrufe • vor 3 Monaten

A new public fountain has appeared in central London, but look closer & you’ll see that it’s a actually a fountain of filth. The water is black, the human victims of the sewage crisis are vomitting streams of liquid, whilst surmounted by a smug water executive with a briefcase stuffed with cash. The fountain commemorates one of the biggest environmental crimes in British history, where water companies stole tens of billions of pounds that was supposed to be spent on our sewage system, gave it to shareholders and executives and illegally poured billions of lites of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas instead. The channel 4 docudrama about the sewage crisis, #dirtybusiness, starts at 9pm tonight. Watch it, get sad, get angry and then join the thousands of people around the country demanding an end to the sewage crisis.

A new public fountain has appeared in central London, but look closer & you’ll see that it’s a actually a fountain of filth. The water is black, the human victims of the sewage crisis are vomitting streams of liquid, whilst surmounted by a smug water executive with a briefcase stuffed with cash. The fountain commemorates one of the biggest environmental crimes in British history, where water companies stole tens of billions of pounds that was supposed to be spent on our sewage system, gave it to shareholders and executives and illegally poured billions of lites of sewage into our rivers, lakes and seas instead. The channel 4 docudrama about the sewage crisis, #dirtybusiness, starts at 9pm tonight. Watch it, get sad, get angry and then join the thousands of people around the country demanding an end to the sewage crisis.

Paul Powlesland

793,375 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

Republican protesters near Trafalgar Square being told by a Met Police officer that they may be arrested for public nuisance for chanting “Not My King”

Republican protesters near Trafalgar Square being told by a Met Police officer that they may be arrested for public nuisance for chanting “Not My King”

Paul Powlesland

2,885,457 Aufrufe • vor 3 Jahren

Turns out you can just create new folk customs. A few years ago, a small group of friends met up on the first Saturday in the new year to burn their old Christmas trees on the Thames foreshore, as a neat way to dispose of them. It has now grown by word of mouth to hundreds of people bringing dozens of trees to the dark sandy beach, waiting in the pub for the tide to drop & then processing down narrow lanes to the river with their trees. No tickets, no real organisers, no barriers or fences like the Mayor’s fireworks. Just people gathering together to stare into the flames at the darkest & coldest point of the year. It feels ever more ritualistic each year, helped last night by the ethereal light of the full moon & the crisp cold that nipped wherever the flames reached the limit of their warmth.

Turns out you can just create new folk customs. A few years ago, a small group of friends met up on the first Saturday in the new year to burn their old Christmas trees on the Thames foreshore, as a neat way to dispose of them. It has now grown by word of mouth to hundreds of people bringing dozens of trees to the dark sandy beach, waiting in the pub for the tide to drop & then processing down narrow lanes to the river with their trees. No tickets, no real organisers, no barriers or fences like the Mayor’s fireworks. Just people gathering together to stare into the flames at the darkest & coldest point of the year. It feels ever more ritualistic each year, helped last night by the ethereal light of the full moon & the crisp cold that nipped wherever the flames reached the limit of their warmth.

Paul Powlesland

520,839 Aufrufe • vor 8 Monaten

Just found an urban fox trying to cross the road in Barking but clearly scared by heavy traffic. I pressed the pedestrian crossing button for them & they then crossed over effortlessly to continue with their evening of foxy activities. Maybe we need beg buttons for wildlife too?

Just found an urban fox trying to cross the road in Barking but clearly scared by heavy traffic. I pressed the pedestrian crossing button for them & they then crossed over effortlessly to continue with their evening of foxy activities. Maybe we need beg buttons for wildlife too?

Paul Powlesland

1,286,224 Aufrufe • vor 2 Jahren

Destruction of a precious ancient bluebell woodland in the Kent countryside under a deluge of illegal landfill waste shows the utter failure of environmental law, complete inaction by the authorities & increasing lawlessness in the UK. Let me tell you the story of Hoads Wood 🧵

Destruction of a precious ancient bluebell woodland in the Kent countryside under a deluge of illegal landfill waste shows the utter failure of environmental law, complete inaction by the authorities & increasing lawlessness in the UK. Let me tell you the story of Hoads Wood 🧵

Paul Powlesland

1,327,792 Aufrufe • vor 2 Jahren

In exquisite timing, local river guardians discovered two significant sewage discharges on the Roding today. The quantity & volume was so big that they were visibly polluting the river (& likely poisoning aquatic life) for hundreds of metres downstream. Even worse, this stretch of the River at Wanstead Park is one of the most popular natural swimming & paddling spots in East London that will be very busy during the heatwave this week. This deluge of sewage is putting people’s lives (particularly paddling children) at risk. Perhaps Thames Water 💧 could use some of the million pound bonus they gave out to stop the sewage & warn local people instead?

In exquisite timing, local river guardians discovered two significant sewage discharges on the Roding today. The quantity & volume was so big that they were visibly polluting the river (& likely poisoning aquatic life) for hundreds of metres downstream. Even worse, this stretch of the River at Wanstead Park is one of the most popular natural swimming & paddling spots in East London that will be very busy during the heatwave this week. This deluge of sewage is putting people’s lives (particularly paddling children) at risk. Perhaps Thames Water 💧 could use some of the million pound bonus they gave out to stop the sewage & warn local people instead?

Paul Powlesland

57,316 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

Chaotic scenes as a prison van carrying some of the ‘Truth Telling 5’ Just Stop Oil activists leaves Southwark Crown Court, after being sentenced to the longest prison terms (4 to 5 years each) given to peaceful protesters in living memory.

Chaotic scenes as a prison van carrying some of the ‘Truth Telling 5’ Just Stop Oil activists leaves Southwark Crown Court, after being sentenced to the longest prison terms (4 to 5 years each) given to peaceful protesters in living memory.

Paul Powlesland

733,069 Aufrufe • vor 2 Jahren

Whilst it’s sad to see, we’re used to newly planted saplings or individual street trees dying from lack of water. I don’t think we’re prepared for the shock of seeing our precious native deciduous woodlands around our dying as a result of drought though. This weekend I was in a native woodland in Norfolk, and saw whole areas of the forest where trees were in a bad way. Many of the trees had clearly run out of water, with their leaves brown, crispy & burnt. Some trees are likely to die from this drought, many more if droughts keep happening. Will we just standby & watch our forest & ancient woodlands die? We need immediate action on the ultimate cause of climate change of course. But given that extreme heat & drought is already here, we need to urgently put together a strategy to enable our forests to adapt to the changing climate as far as they are able to. Obvious things to do include restoring ancient woodlands to health by removing invasive species like rhododendron & cherry laurel; getting rid of non-native pine plantations & replacing with native trees that are more drought tolerant; blocking up drainage & creating ponds & swales so that woodlands retain water; expanding woodlands & creating buffer zones around them. These are just a few ideas: more than anything, we need government to listen to tree experts, come up with a proper plan & then have the will to implement that plan as a matter of national importance. Without this, we may lose much of our ancient woodland in our lifetime.

Whilst it’s sad to see, we’re used to newly planted saplings or individual street trees dying from lack of water. I don’t think we’re prepared for the shock of seeing our precious native deciduous woodlands around our dying as a result of drought though. This weekend I was in a native woodland in Norfolk, and saw whole areas of the forest where trees were in a bad way. Many of the trees had clearly run out of water, with their leaves brown, crispy & burnt. Some trees are likely to die from this drought, many more if droughts keep happening. Will we just standby & watch our forest & ancient woodlands die? We need immediate action on the ultimate cause of climate change of course. But given that extreme heat & drought is already here, we need to urgently put together a strategy to enable our forests to adapt to the changing climate as far as they are able to. Obvious things to do include restoring ancient woodlands to health by removing invasive species like rhododendron & cherry laurel; getting rid of non-native pine plantations & replacing with native trees that are more drought tolerant; blocking up drainage & creating ponds & swales so that woodlands retain water; expanding woodlands & creating buffer zones around them. These are just a few ideas: more than anything, we need government to listen to tree experts, come up with a proper plan & then have the will to implement that plan as a matter of national importance. Without this, we may lose much of our ancient woodland in our lifetime.

Paul Powlesland

33,449 Aufrufe • vor 1 Monat

It’s hard to imagine a more shameful indictment of our sewage crisis than what I witnessed on the River Avon this afternoon. A flock of swans & ducks feeding & cavorting in a plume of raw sewage, just a few hundred metres from the centre of the genteel City of Bath. This huge sewage spill entered the river after a short 10 minute rainstorm of average intensity. It is highly unlikely that the circumstances were exceptional and thus this discharge is likely to be a criminal offence. I (somewhat ironically) spotted this spill on my way to speak to local river activists on the Avon. I’ve encouraged them all to demand that both the Environment Agency & the local authority Bath & North East Somerset Council hold Wessex Water to account for their disgusting & disgraceful actions.

It’s hard to imagine a more shameful indictment of our sewage crisis than what I witnessed on the River Avon this afternoon. A flock of swans & ducks feeding & cavorting in a plume of raw sewage, just a few hundred metres from the centre of the genteel City of Bath. This huge sewage spill entered the river after a short 10 minute rainstorm of average intensity. It is highly unlikely that the circumstances were exceptional and thus this discharge is likely to be a criminal offence. I (somewhat ironically) spotted this spill on my way to speak to local river activists on the Avon. I’ve encouraged them all to demand that both the Environment Agency & the local authority Bath & North East Somerset Council hold Wessex Water to account for their disgusting & disgraceful actions.

Paul Powlesland

283,679 Aufrufe • vor 2 Jahren

Hi Wes Streeting. The video below is the Cran Brook, probably the most polluted river in London. It’s a river of raw shit & landfill leachate flowing through *your* constituency. It’s 100% illegal, it goes through a public park and then straight into the River Roding above Ilford town centre. Labour promised to stop the sewage scandal & yet right now this one outfall in your constituency is pouring nearly a billion litres of sewage a year, illegally, into the river. There has been zero prosecutions for illegal sewage dumps on the Roding this century, and Labour has no plan of when this outfall, and the many others like it, are due to be fixed. You are now in power and have free rein to solve this scandal by the end of this Parliament. Are you going to take action, or let the sewage keep flowing?

Hi Wes Streeting. The video below is the Cran Brook, probably the most polluted river in London. It’s a river of raw shit & landfill leachate flowing through your constituency. It’s 100% illegal, it goes through a public park and then straight into the River Roding above Ilford town centre. Labour promised to stop the sewage scandal & yet right now this one outfall in your constituency is pouring nearly a billion litres of sewage a year, illegally, into the river. There has been zero prosecutions for illegal sewage dumps on the Roding this century, and Labour has no plan of when this outfall, and the many others like it, are due to be fixed. You are now in power and have free rein to solve this scandal by the end of this Parliament. Are you going to take action, or let the sewage keep flowing?

Paul Powlesland

100,426 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

Out on the River Roding yesterday I discovered what these spill statistics mean in reality. A cascade of sun bleached wet wipes & sanitary towels strewn down the bank of the Roding from Combined Sewer Overflow. When do we draw a line in the sand & say this is simply unacceptable?

Out on the River Roding yesterday I discovered what these spill statistics mean in reality. A cascade of sun bleached wet wipes & sanitary towels strewn down the bank of the Roding from Combined Sewer Overflow. When do we draw a line in the sand & say this is simply unacceptable?

Paul Powlesland

384,090 Aufrufe • vor 3 Jahren

Tens of thousands of people came from rivers & seas across the country to march through London in the biggest water demonstration in UK history. It was so large that people were still leaving the Albert Embankment as the procession entered Parliament Square. All those marching on the March for Clean Water had a simple message: we need real action for clean water & we need it now.

Tens of thousands of people came from rivers & seas across the country to march through London in the biggest water demonstration in UK history. It was so large that people were still leaving the Albert Embankment as the procession entered Parliament Square. All those marching on the March for Clean Water had a simple message: we need real action for clean water & we need it now.

Paul Powlesland

229,918 Aufrufe • vor 1 Jahr

Starmer ducks the question about the Cherwell waste dump at PMQ’s. Asked specifically whether he will instruct the Environment Agency to clean it up now, Starmer mumbles about finding the perpetrators, but effectively repeats the EA’s claim that they can only begin the clear up once the perpetrators are found & prosecuted (so the EA can recover their costs). This is unacceptable. The government can give a direction to the EA to begin clear up works immediately (as they did at Hoads Wood), so if this waste pile sits there for years leaching pollution into the river, Labour will be squarely responsible for the continued failure to clean it up.

Starmer ducks the question about the Cherwell waste dump at PMQ’s. Asked specifically whether he will instruct the Environment Agency to clean it up now, Starmer mumbles about finding the perpetrators, but effectively repeats the EA’s claim that they can only begin the clear up once the perpetrators are found & prosecuted (so the EA can recover their costs). This is unacceptable. The government can give a direction to the EA to begin clear up works immediately (as they did at Hoads Wood), so if this waste pile sits there for years leaching pollution into the river, Labour will be squarely responsible for the continued failure to clean it up.

Paul Powlesland

108,696 Aufrufe • vor 10 Monaten

I’ve never encountered a more perfect example of how screwed up our conversation about land access & responsibility is, & how leniently we view environmental crime by landowners, than this scene I encountered on the River Roding today

I’ve never encountered a more perfect example of how screwed up our conversation about land access & responsibility is, & how leniently we view environmental crime by landowners, than this scene I encountered on the River Roding today

Paul Powlesland

334,809 Aufrufe • vor 3 Jahren

River guardians do not want bribes that allow Thames Water to keep breaking the law. We want one simple thing: for Thames Water to put spades in the ground & fix every single illegal outfall within the next 5-10 years. A little story to illustrate: 5 years ago I found an illegal outfall spewing raw sewage (with visible turds) into the Aldersbrook (a tributary of the Roding). The EA refused to prosecute, but I created so much fuss locally about it that eventually I got a visit from Richard Aylard, Thames Water’s ‘Sustainability Director’ who had an unflattering appearance in the recent ‘Dirty Business’ programme. Instead of setting forth a timetable to fix the outfall, Aylard offered the River Roding Trust (the entirely volunteer run charity I founded) £50,000 for “river restoration”. I refused this offer, saying there was no point restoring a brook that still had raw shit going into it. I continued campaigning for another three years: taking numerous journalists to the outfall, getting Thames Water hauled before the local council scrutiny committee & relentlessly calling them out on social media. Eventually, after 4 years, Thames spent £1 million fixing the outfall & the brook is now clean for the first time in decades. I have no doubt that if I hadn’t discovered the outfall in the first place, or if I had taken the £50,000, the outfall would still be putting raw turds into the Aldersbrook, a stone’s throw from Ilford town centre. It’s obvious for Thames that’s it cheaper to pay their critics to keep quiet than to do the work needed to fix the problem, but this is not what our rivers need.

River guardians do not want bribes that allow Thames Water to keep breaking the law. We want one simple thing: for Thames Water to put spades in the ground & fix every single illegal outfall within the next 5-10 years. A little story to illustrate: 5 years ago I found an illegal outfall spewing raw sewage (with visible turds) into the Aldersbrook (a tributary of the Roding). The EA refused to prosecute, but I created so much fuss locally about it that eventually I got a visit from Richard Aylard, Thames Water’s ‘Sustainability Director’ who had an unflattering appearance in the recent ‘Dirty Business’ programme. Instead of setting forth a timetable to fix the outfall, Aylard offered the River Roding Trust (the entirely volunteer run charity I founded) £50,000 for “river restoration”. I refused this offer, saying there was no point restoring a brook that still had raw shit going into it. I continued campaigning for another three years: taking numerous journalists to the outfall, getting Thames Water hauled before the local council scrutiny committee & relentlessly calling them out on social media. Eventually, after 4 years, Thames spent £1 million fixing the outfall & the brook is now clean for the first time in decades. I have no doubt that if I hadn’t discovered the outfall in the first place, or if I had taken the £50,000, the outfall would still be putting raw turds into the Aldersbrook, a stone’s throw from Ilford town centre. It’s obvious for Thames that’s it cheaper to pay their critics to keep quiet than to do the work needed to fix the problem, but this is not what our rivers need.

Paul Powlesland

70,297 Aufrufe • vor 6 Monaten

The sewage crisis laid bare As we’ve been having a wet winter, sewage has been cascading into the River Roding from outfalls everywhere. But one has been discharging for so long (550 hours, or over three weeks) that I thought it was an error with the sensor. I decided to spend my free time on a Saturday night checking it out. It was not hard to find, as the loud noise of rushing water instantly drew me towards the right part of the site. Climbing a fence, I found that the outfall was covered in brambles & fallen trees and hadn’t been inspected in years. There was clearly a fault in the storm tanks which was causing them to spill huge amounts of sewage, even when it wasn’t raining. Even worse, the outfall itself had become clogged with years of debris, so the whole site had been flooded & become a lake of sewage, literally acres in extent. The flow was so intense that it was not possible to fully measure it, but I would estimate it was at least 100 litres a second, likely more. I checked the ammonia levels & it maxed out my checker, so I used a higher range checker which gave an ammonia reading of 27ppm: ie very concentrated sewage. Doing some quick calculations, I discovered that this one spill had poured at least 180,000,000 million litres of concentrated raw sewage straight into the River Roding, putting the health of local people at risk and causing huge ecological damage to the river. It frankly beggars belief that I, as a volunteer in my spare time, was able to discover this serious illegal sewage spill, but at no point has anyone from either Thames Water or the Environment Agency thought to go and investigate the outfall that has apparently been flowing for weeks. The time for talking has ended: we now need change and real action.

The sewage crisis laid bare As we’ve been having a wet winter, sewage has been cascading into the River Roding from outfalls everywhere. But one has been discharging for so long (550 hours, or over three weeks) that I thought it was an error with the sensor. I decided to spend my free time on a Saturday night checking it out. It was not hard to find, as the loud noise of rushing water instantly drew me towards the right part of the site. Climbing a fence, I found that the outfall was covered in brambles & fallen trees and hadn’t been inspected in years. There was clearly a fault in the storm tanks which was causing them to spill huge amounts of sewage, even when it wasn’t raining. Even worse, the outfall itself had become clogged with years of debris, so the whole site had been flooded & become a lake of sewage, literally acres in extent. The flow was so intense that it was not possible to fully measure it, but I would estimate it was at least 100 litres a second, likely more. I checked the ammonia levels & it maxed out my checker, so I used a higher range checker which gave an ammonia reading of 27ppm: ie very concentrated sewage. Doing some quick calculations, I discovered that this one spill had poured at least 180,000,000 million litres of concentrated raw sewage straight into the River Roding, putting the health of local people at risk and causing huge ecological damage to the river. It frankly beggars belief that I, as a volunteer in my spare time, was able to discover this serious illegal sewage spill, but at no point has anyone from either Thames Water or the Environment Agency thought to go and investigate the outfall that has apparently been flowing for weeks. The time for talking has ended: we now need change and real action.

Paul Powlesland

65,417 Aufrufe • vor 7 Monaten

Absolutely delighted to announce that the tree felling in Wellingborough has been suspended & the developer has agreed to a public consultation on its plans which will include release of the docs requested by the community, as explained by Marion, the local leader of the campaign

Absolutely delighted to announce that the tree felling in Wellingborough has been suspended & the developer has agreed to a public consultation on its plans which will include release of the docs requested by the community, as explained by Marion, the local leader of the campaign

Paul Powlesland

234,711 Aufrufe • vor 3 Jahren