Londoners back Tideway Tunnel
Londoners back Tideway Tunnel
Thames Tunnel Now at the Thames Festival
Campaigners from Thames Tunnel Now, the coalition of around 30 
amenity and environmental groups that back the Tideway Tunnel as the best way of cleaning up London’s river, were out in force at the weekend promoting their message to visitors to the Thames Festival held on the embankment outside City Hall. They received a warm reception from Londoners who want an end to the scandal which sees a staggering 39 million tonnes of untreated sewage entering the Thames every year as London’s Victorian sewers struggle to cope with the demands of a city with 8 million people.
Debbie Leach, Chief Executive of Thames21 said:
“The Festival was a wonderful weekend in celebration of the river and it was fantastic to see everyone not just enjoying the Thames, but wanting to talk about the challenges it faces. I was really struck by the overwhelming level of support for the Thames Tunnel project and people recognising that sewage in the river must be dealt with effectively, decisively and without further delay.”
Richard Crimp of Thames Anglers Conservancy added:
“The Tideway Tunnel simply has to happen as soon as possible, the current ecological status of the river is an environmental disaster that needs to be rectified, to do otherwise is grossly irresponsible and short sighted. Millions of tonnes of untreated sewage spew into the river every year and it has to stop.”
Chief Executive of London Wildlife Trust, Carlo Laurenzi said:
‘It was a delight to see so many people who love the Thames and its wildlife at the weekend. The Thames Tunnel will greatly improve the health of the river for a wide range of wildlife from European eel, flounder and smelt, to grey heron and even grey seal.’
Campaigners from the London Wildlife Trust, Thames Anglers Conservancy, Thames21 and the Angling Trust staffed the TTN stall on both days of the festival weekend (8th & 9th September) handing out leaflets and collecting signatures in support of the Tideway Tunnel.
Ends
Notes to editors:
Thames Tunnel Now [www.thamestunnelnow.org] is an expanding collective of environmental and wildlife charities and amenity groups, which came together in October 2011 to call for a stop to on-going sewage pollution in the River Thames through the construction of the Thames Tunnel project.
Further detail on the Thames Tunnel
* There are 36 CSOs that the Enviornment Agency requires Thames Water to tackle. Thirty-four are tackled by the Thames Tunnel, one by the Lee Tunnel and one by other means at Wick Lane sewage pumping depot.
** The water company will apply not a planning permission, as is currently the case, but rather for a ‘Development Consent Order.’
Visit the Thames Tunnel website for more: http://www.thamestunnelconsultation.co.uk/