Seething Wells: Riverside Walk

Residents Planning Alliance Submission 2003


A riverside walk would be destructive and disruptive of wildlife features for very little gain. The top level of the wall is quite narrow. When measured in 1996 it was a little over 2.1m (7 feet). It is insufficient for a footway including access for the disabled.

Sandwiched between the river and the Filter beds 4m (13 feet) above the Thames, the walk would require guard rails on both sides. The top of the 150 year old wall would have to be cleared of over 50 years growth of broom (see article on Spanish Broom) and trees, which form the main bird breeding habitat on the site.

Engineering problems associated with constructing a path would be considerable and for what? There is no linking paths at either end of the Filter Beds.There is no reason why a walk cannot go around the site as proposed by the Residents Planning Alliance (Refer to plan, 2003).Their suggested route around the filter beds is marked in red and retains the tranquility of the site.

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