Agenda item

This report presents progress on the Brent Reservoir / Welsh Harp Management Plan since the last meeting of the Committee and during the 2023/24 year to date. The Management Plan is jointly managed by the three main land-holding organisations: Brent Council, the London Borough of Barnet, and the Canal & River Trust.

Leslie Williams (Project Officer, Parks Service, Brent Council) introduced a report that outlined the progress made regarding the Brent Reservoir and Welsh Harp Management Plan since the last Committee meeting and during 2023/24. The Committee noted that the Action Plan for the Management Plan, attached in Appendix A of the report, had undergone a format review which replaced the ‘Red’, ‘Amber’, ‘Green’ rating with a text description of the action to provide a more accurate and nuanced update.

In moving to the main part of the update, Leslie Williams detailed that a new Grounds Maintenance Contract was commencing with Continental Landscapes Ltd on 1 August 2023 for the operational works in Brent Council’s parks and open spaces. The contract included the Welsh Harp Open Space, Neasden Recreation Ground and Silver Jubilee Park. Members were also informed that the Park Warden Service was now an in-house Council service.

The Committee were advised that previous work to manage the marshland on the shore of the Welsh Harp Open Space provided for a range of conservation, landscape and recreational needs while retaining a variety of trees within the marshland. However, shade was continuing to reduce the marshland vegetation on the southwestern shore of the reservoir alongside Neasden Recreation Ground. Thus, Brent Council was planning to review the trees on the marshland to mitigate against overshading.

Following the approval of the proposals for a Post 16 Skills Resource Centre for young people with special educational needs by Brent Council’s Cabinet at their May 2023 meeting, the Committee were informed that the Centre would be located in the Welsh Harp and would provide horticulture, work experience and volunteering opportunities. In addition to its main purpose, there was also the potential for use at other times by third sector and community organisations, with Thames 21 continuing to provide some limited services at the existing Centre.

In thanking the volunteers who were vital in the delivery of the programme, an update was provided regarding the Healthy Walks Programme, with walks held at the Welsh Harp taking place on Thursdays from 10am to 1pm, meeting at the Welsh Harp Open Space end of Birchen Grove, Kingsbury NW9.

It was explained that signage had been installed on a new way-marked walking route between Wembley Park Station and the Welsh Harp (Welsh Harp Open Space at Birchen Grove). The route extended through a mix of quieter roads and green spaces including the Canal Feeder and River Brent at Quainton Street Open Space, Chalkhill Open Space, St David’s Close Open Space and Chalkhill Park.

In concluding the update, Lewis Elmes (Environment Agency) provided further context to the update on pollution incidents occurring in the southern side of the Brent Reservoir SSSI. In response to an incident occurring in November 2022, a polluter had been identified and contacted regarding potential prosecution. The source of the pollution had been blocked and the suspected polluter had spoken to Thames Water concerning their discharge system. Moreover, the polluter had agreed to 48 hour rolling monitoring and they were in the process of remapping their drainage system. Regarding the pollution itself, the discharge, said to be a white powder, had ceased and PH levels had dropped to normal levels. Whilst there was evidence of ongoing foreign sewage entering the water, in which Thames Water were actively being engaged on, it was not linked to the original incident.

In thanking Leslie Williams and Lewis Elmes for the update, the Chair welcomed questions from Committee members, with contributions summarised below:

·       In response to a query on the progress of the marshland work, members were informed that no work had commenced since the last Committee meeting and local discussions needed to be held before progressing, although it was planned to eventually have trees approximately 30 metres apart.

·       Regarding pollution incidents in the Welsh Harp, the Committee were advised that there were ongoing issues with misconnected properties that Thames Water was aware of, businesses had been educated on pollution in response to incidents in Mutton Brook, there were a number of projects to address pollution and invest in the sewage network in Wealdstone Brook, and a more serious issue connected to Thames Water assets was being addressed further downstream. The work of Clean Up River Brent was also detailed, who had created a novel, cost-effective way of monitoring pollution. Members were informed to contact Lewis Elmes if they wanted to learn more about Clean Up River Brent’s work or wanted to get involved in the work.

·       Committee members highlighted that the public were accessing the water at Brent Reservoir as they were not aware of the restrictions in place. In response, Sian Palmer-Ferry (Canal & River Trust) explained that internal conversations were occurring within the Canal & River Trust to provide greater clarity concerning access to the waters. Thus, there were plans to improve the Terms of Reference on the Canal & River Trust website and increase signage at the reservoir.

·       In reiterating the number of people using the water at Welsh Harp, members called for more communication regarding pollution incidents. In response, the Committee were informed that it was not practical to notify the public about every incident. However, the Environmental Agency was meeting Thames Water weekly to receive progress updates on existing incidents and mitigations. In addition, the Environmental Agency had asked for more frequent public communications from Thames Water.

·       Consultative Committee members offered their assistance with the removal of trees on the marshland.

·       Regarding the impact that draining the reservoir would have on the marshland, members were informed that most of the marshland consisted of perennial’s which could cope with the change. Although recognising the minor impacts that the draining could have, it was explained that the seeds would remain in the soil and more rain was expected over the period of the draining.

With no further issues being raised, the Committee AGREED to note the update.