London Assembly hears plan is about ensuring improved access to swimming for some of capital’s most deprived communities, reports Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

The River Lea in East London and (inset) deputy mayor for environment Mete Coban addresses the London Assembly

Sir Sadiq Khan’s plan to create “swimmable rivers” across London within the next decade will play an important role in delivering “social and racial justice” in the capital, his deputy mayor for the environment has claimed.

Deputy mayor Mete Coban told the London Assembly this week that the plan was not only about improving water quality, but also ensuring an improved level of access to swimming for some of the city’s most deprived communities.

Speaking to the assembly’s environment committee, Coban confirmed that the mayor’s ambition is for all of London’s waterways to be brought up to a “swimmable” standard, in terms of cleanliness, by 2034 – though he cautioned that not all would necessarily be safe or suitable for swimming due to tides, depth and other factors.

The committee’s Green Party chair, Zack Polanksi, welcomed the target, saying that it represented a “huge commitment” by Sir Sadiq. The deputy mayor responded: “That is a huge commitment, but at the same time we’ve got to be ambitious for our city.

“Targets are very important, because if you don’t have ambitious targets then, ultimately, we’ve got to really recognise why we are doing this. We’re doing this because this is fundamentally a social and racial justice issue for Londoners.”

Coban went on to claim that “94% of young, black Londoners don’t know how to swim”, though the mayor’s office later clarified for the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he was misspeaking. They said he was instead referring to the fact that, according to Sport England, 95% of black adults and 80% of black children do not swim – regardless of whether they know how to or not.

Sport England states that the same is also true of 93% of Asian (excluding Chinese) adults, and 78% of Asian (excluding Chinese) children. For white British adults however, the equivalent figure drops to 89%, and for white British children, 71%.

The deputy mayor continued: “A big part of that is because of the lack of education and access to swimmable sites. So we do want to be ambitious, to create as many swimmable sites as possible, where it’s safe to do so.

“We’re not saying everywhere will be safe, we know that not everywhere will be safe, so we’re very mindful of that – but I think it’s really important to also emphasise that a core part of this is more than just about swimming.

“This is about creating cleaner and healthier waterways, and access comes in many forms. That could be in terms of swimmable sites, but also, actually, it’s more about how do we create the nice pathways where people can enjoy their neighbourhoods and walk along the sides of their waterways, really recognising the huge benefits that unlocks for people’s mental wellbeing.”

The deputy mayor separately revealed that Khan will hold a roundtable discussion in March, where “international partners” from cities like Paris will be invited to share examples of the work they’ve been doing to clean up urban rivers.

Bloomberg Associates – the consulting arm of Bloomberg Philanthropies, which works pro bono “with city leaders around the world to help solve complex municipal challenges”, according to their website – will also be present at the meeting.

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