Chambers Wharf is not suitable as a super sewer site

Thames Water is considering using Chambers Wharf as a drive site to create a “Super Sewer” junction bringing raw sewage from Greenwich to the connect with the main “Super Sewer” tunnel as well as to recover two tunnel boring machines.

Chambers Wharf is a highly populated residential riverside site lying just east of Tower Bridge in the London Borough of Southwark. There are over 140 residences directly adjacent to the site (some within a mere 1 metre) and there are two schools attended by over 1000 pupils within 30 metres and 50 metres from the edge of the of the site. In addition, it is a Thames riverside site, on the Thames Path route which is listed in all guide-books.

The community around Chambers Wharf were looking forward to the site being developed into one of the greenest residential sites in London with recreational facilities and the river walkway would have been extended from East Lane to Cherry Gardens. Now Thames Water is considering turning Chambers Wharf into an industrial zone destroying our local community.

• Residents, pupils and local businesses will all be severely affected by the construction which will take at least seven years, three years of which will be 24 hours a day for 7 days a week.

• During the construction there will be increased heavy vehicle traffic on the local roads, which are not only narrow but also where the schools are located posing a real danger to school children and local residents.

• Construction so close to residents and schools for such a length of time would be a major source of air pollution possibly causing respiratory illnesses, asthma and bronchitis.

• The whole riverside east of Tower Bridge will lose its appeal. Bermondsey Riverside could become, again, for the next ten years a depressed area, extending into Rotherhithe and beyond.

• Once completed, the site will have sewage ventilation vents and Thames Water cannot guarantee there won’t be sewage smells.

We urge you to sign the petition to object to a Chambers Wharf being used as a construction site as part of Thames Water’s super sewer construction.

There are credible alternatives to Chambers Wharf that are more than suitable and there are even alternatives to Thames Water’s current proposals to clean up the river that would not only be cheaper but have substantially less impact on the residential communities.