ADD2829 Engaging young Londoners in activating London’s waterways

1.1.    The Mayor’s Clean and Healthy Waterways Plan will set out a 10-year framework for improving London’s waterways – many of which remain polluted and disconnected from communities. This impacts nature, and limits people’s ability to engage with them.

1.2.    The plan has been co-created by, and will be co-delivered with, over 50 organisations across the water, environment, access, health and voluntary sectors. The plan focuses on four key themes: water quality, nature, access, and inclusion and engagement. 

1.3.    Access to green and blue spaces is not equitable for all Londoners. Many communities are missing out on the health, wellbeing and community connection provided by London’s parks, riversides, and the nature surrounding our waterways. All Londoners should be able to enjoy the capital’s rivers and blue spaces. Designed by young Londoners, for Londoners, these picnic tables will provide communities with new places to rest, relax and connect with nature.

1.4.    Working with the boroughs in four of the strategic locations in the plan (these are East Reservoir in Hackney, Chandos and Watling Park in Barnet, King George’s Park in Wandsworth and Northolt Green Ring in Ealing) we will run a competition with local schools to enable young Londoners to submit their designs for the tops of the tables. These designs will show us what London’s waterways mean to them. This is a way to engage young Londoners and communities in our work to clean up the city’s waterways. The competition will be held with schools in the four boroughs as well as pan London; the prize will be given to up to eight young Londoners across the city, with the winning designs featured on the tabletops of newly installed picnic tables. Each borough will have one borough winner and one pan London winner, which will enable us to run this as a pan London competition.

1.5.    Contracts for coordination and painting will be awarded to delivery partners following a tender process. They will manage the design competition then paint and install the new picnic areas. 

1.6.    This decision uses underspend from the Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London programme budget in 2025-26. 

1.7.    This decision supports the Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London programme approved under Mayoral Decision (MD) 3384. This aims to improve access to nature; and drive climate adaptation equitably across London. It also complements waterways investments to be made under two further MDs: MD3374 (Green Roots) and MD3413 (Investing in Strategic Projects). 

1.8.    Under the Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London delivery plan, this proposal sits within the Accelerating Delivery strand, specifically Project 1.1: Delivering clean and healthy waterways. This focuses on achieving measurable improvements in water quality, biodiversity, access and inclusion; and identifies up to 10 priority sites for targeted interventions.
 

2.1.    This activity supports the following London-level outcomes, as set out in the Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London delivery plan:

•    Londoners can enjoy green and wild spaces across the capital
•    Londoners live in neighbourhoods that are well planned and designed
•    Londoners live in a city that supports their mental and physical health.

2.2.    Objectives are as follows:

•    To engage young Londoners in the Mayor’s work to improve London’s waterways, including those in four key boroughs across the city: Hackney, Barnet, Wandsworth and Ealing  
•    To provide new seating to help improve access to, and enjoyment of, waterside locations across four key boroughs. 
 

3.1.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, the Mayor and GLA must comply with the public sector equality duty (PSED) and must have due regard to the need to:

•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and any other conduct that is prohibited by or under the Equality Act 2010
•    advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not
•    foster good relations between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2.    The ‘protected characteristics’ are: age, disability, gender reassignment, pregnancy and maternity, marriage and civil partnership (but only in respect of the requirements to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination), race (ethnic or national origins, colour or nationality), religion or belief (including lack of belief), sex, and sexual orientation. 

3.3.    Consideration of the PSED is not a one-off task. The duty must be complied with before taking a decision, at the time of taking a decision, and after the decision has been taken, to ensure that equalities impacts are kept under ongoing review.

3.4.    Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Londoners, and lower-income Londoners, are more likely to live in areas without decent access to green and blue spaces, or where the quality of these spaces is poor. 

3.5.    The Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London delivery plan specifically responds to, and aims to tackle, these disparities. By targeting communities in polluted catchments, supporting inclusive engagement and improving access, the Clean and Healthy Waterways Plan specifically aims to advance equality of opportunity – so that every Londoner, regardless of where they live, or their background, can benefit from the city’s waterways.

3.6.    The sites for these picnic tables have been identified within the 10 priority sites within the waterways plan. The sites include locations in north, south, east and west London – enabling schools in all regions of the city to take part. 
 

4.1.    The following risks and mitigations have been considered:

4.2.    This work links to the following projects in the Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London programme: 

•    Clean and Healthy Waterways
•    delivering the Green Roots programme
•    investing in strategic projects focused on climate adaptation and greening.

4.3.    There are no conflicts of interest with regards to this pilot project – including from any of those involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form. 

4.4.    Contracts with chosen suppliers will be done with supporting evidence, and in accordance with the obligations set out in the Contracts and Funding Code; and the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014.

5.1.    Approval is requested to spend £50,000 from 2025-26 underspend, to deliver a targeted waterways community engagement commission in 2026-27. This work will underpin a package of delivery, engagement and communications activity, to enable delivery of commitments in the Mayor’s Clean and Healthy Waterways Plan.

5.2.    This will be funded from the Delivering a Greener, More Climate-Resilient London programme (MD3384). It will use underspend from the Convening Partnership Action on Climate Resilience budget in 2025-26; and transferring it to the Delivering Clean and Healthy Waterways budget for 2026-27. This is part of the 2025-26 carry forward requests.

5.3.    Future years’ budgets will still be subject to the annual budget-setting process. Any contracts that cover future years will need to have break clauses. Any changes in the anticipated spend profile across the years will be reflected as updates during the budget-setting process.
 

6.1.    This work will be delivered according to the following timetable: