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Mayor of Kingston helps put the 'Thames back into Kingston'

The Mayor of the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, Cllr Mary Reid, was joined on Tuesday 23rd January by local ward councillors and representatives of the Thames Landscape Strategy and local amenity groups to celebrate the completion of the first project in the Thames Landscape Strategy ‘Putting the Thames Back into Kingston’ initiative. Meeting at the Half Mile Tree on Lower Ham Road, the Mayor unveiled a new information board celebrating the wildlife and heritage of the riverside. The board was erected as part of a package of improvements to the area including an accessible new stretch of footpath linking the towpath with Lower Ham Road, the removal of signage clutter and landscaping works to this important local landmark. The scheme, funded by Transport for London was designed following consultation with local residents, amenity groups and with the help of the National Trails walking organisation, and improves this important strategic location on the Thames Path National Trail.
The ‘Putting the Thames Back into Kingston’ initiative was launched in July 2005, and this exciting project, a joint venture between the Council and the Thames Landscape Strategy, aims to transform many areas of Kingston’s riverside and initiate a revival in the use of the Thames. Like so many towns, Kingston traditionally turned its back on the river due mainly to the industry that lined its banks. But scratch beneath the surface and Kingston also has the most glorious boating traditions. It is the town that Jerome K Jerome hired his skiff from before setting off, three men in a boat, up the Thames to Oxford and there are more rowing, sailing, canoe, punting and skiff clubs clustered around the town than almost anywhere on the Thames, or any waterway in the UK.

The Thames Landscape Strategy plan is simply to ‘Put the Thames Back into Kingston’, to celebrate this watery heritage and to use it as a mechanism to regenerate the use and character of the Thames corridor linked to wider Borough initiatives such as K+20 and the Environment Agency’s Waterways Plan. To make Kingston a key Thameside centre it has been important to look at the riverside open spaces from the point of view of how they interact with the river itself including its wildlife, flooding and use. Working closely with the Royal Borough of Kingston and the Environment Agency, the TLS is currently consulting on what local people and users of the river would like to see improved. The Thames Landscape Strategy will be consulting in the future on a package of mooring improvements that would prepare the way for a raft of enhancements to Kingston’s river such as floating restaurants, business boats, permanent and visitor moorings .

Alongside the river, many land-based projects have been proposed and the enhancements to the landscaping at Half Mile Tree on Lower Ham Road is the first to be completed. Other proposed works to be consulted on include access improvements, tree planting and landscaping to many of Kingston’s riverside open spaces such as Thames Side and Eagle Wharf. To complement these proposals, the TLS has also teamed up with Kingston Council, local groups and the Probation Service to put in place a new regular riverside litter collection. This plan has seen a big increase in the frequency of litter picks along the Thames including a monthly blitz carried out by community service workers. This has seen a huge improvement in the appearance of the riverbanks although as Jason Debney, Co-ordinator of the Thames Landscape Strategy explains ‘‘keeping the river clean is like painted the Forth Bridge. As soon as one set of litter is tidied another lot is washed up. This has been made more difficult over the past three months due to the heavy floodwaters and increasingly we are seeing the high tide topping Teddington Weir all the way up the river to Molesey. This raises the water levels and drops even more litter on the riverbanks. The new plan sees volunteers and probation workers out after these high tides providing a better and much more efficient service’’.

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