The Pymmes BrookERS voluntary group explain how a council-led project to break the stream out of its concrete channel will help local wildlife and reduce flood-risk

Enfield Council’s watercourses team has put forward an initial proposal to restore the Pymmes Brook in Arnos Park – and we’d like to explain what it’s all about.

The Pymmes BrookERS is a volunteer-run community group that works to improve the health of both the Pymmes and Salmons brooks. We support any proposal to restore the health of the Pymmes Brook along its course and believe this will benefit the river, wildlife, and people.

The Pymmes Brook is in very poor health. It is polluted by agriculture, where it rises in outer London farmland; by sewage from property plumbing misconnections and the poor condition of Thames Water infrastructure; and by road run-off (oil, petrol and heavy metals that come off vehicles via brake pads and tyres, and which wash into rivers after rain, killing all aquatic life). Pollution levels vary with weather conditions and other factors, but the river’s concrete sides and base, straight and too-deep channel, plus weirs in Arnos Park and elsewhere, all contribute to its poor health. Weirs stop fish spawning, so they can’t survive for long. Weirs also slow the flow behind the weir, creating a stagnant pool where toxic sediment is deposited.

Restoring and re-meandering a river allows it to flow more naturally. Faster flows clean the gravels, under which invertebrates live. These invertebrates are crucial to the food web, supplying food for birds and aquatic life, but they can’t survive in dank, concrete-clad, slow-moving water where sediments are constantly being deposited. A natural river is about 30% fast-moving riffles and 70% slower-moving, deeper pools – something Feargal Sharkey told us when he walked the Pymmes Brook back in 2018.

Adding small wetland areas will improve the river even more, as the plants filter out pollutants completely naturally. Wetlands also hold on to volumes of water in heavy rain, which helps to reduce flooding both locally and, vitally, downstream in Edmonton where there is a risk to people’s homes. As is often the case with rivers, low-income neighbourhoods are vulnerable to the worst flooding.

Re-meandering the river will also improve river health and water quality. It will restore biodiversity through riverside planting and wetlands, allowing wildlife to thrive – which means more dragonflies, kingfishers, herons and fish!

Sadly, we’ve become so used to a nature-deprived environment that we’ve forgotten what nature is like. Research from the annual State of Nature report shows that the UK is one of the world’s most nature-depleted countries; there is a nature crisis both in the UK and in London, but this scheme in Arnos Park presents an opportunity to enrich the area’s biodiversity.

The Pymmes BrookERS believe that any scheme delivered by Enfield’s watercourses team will be high quality. The team has won awards for its work on the Salmons Brook and Enfield Chase Restoration Project plus wetlands projects at Wilbury Way, Firs Farm and Albany Park, among others – take a look at these places and see what we could have on our doorstep!

The watercourses team is currently considering the views of the community on its Arnos Park project. Whatever final form this scheme takes, let’s benefit from a major investment into the health and beauty of our local park and river.

Read a full FAQs on the Arnos Park project from Pymmes BrookERS:
Visit pymmesbrookers.org.uk/news

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