Lea River Ecology

The Lower Lea River has long since been associated with industry and being a conveyor for domestic and industrial effluent, shut off to the public for decades and had a reputation of being one of the most polluted river in the UK.  Since the late 1960’s when the area’s industry went into steep decline, London’s second river has however become a vital waterways habitat that is now home to an amazing array of wildlife.   GDP’s Cody Dock and Cody Wilds project seek to promote greater awareness of this amazing asset, strengthen the existing wildlife habitats and and ensure that this wildlife continues to flourish alongside the emerging regeneration that is set to line the river’s banks.

You can find out more about the Lower Lea’s wildlife by reading this article written by Cody Dock volunteer and local environmentalist Paul Ferris.

Partners

Pocket Parks project

The Mayor of London’s Pocket Parks funding scheme and the Veolia Environmental Trust enabled Cody Dock volunteers to build a small but perfectly formed sensory garden complete with formal planting, bog land and ornamental grasses, planters of edible herbs and outdoor classroom.

This tranquil space welcomes visitors walking The Line Sculpture Trail and exploring the Lower Lea river path and is regularly used by schools and community groups for outdoor education and cross curricular field studies, and by local business for meetings and social events.

The Outdoor Classroom space can be hired for private and community bookings – availability and prices, can be found here.

Cody Wilds

In 2014, Cody Dock was runner up in Kew Gardens’ national flagship Grow Wild competition. Off the back of this application, Gasworks Dock Partnership, Thames 21, Newham Council and the London Legacy Development Corporation initiated Cody Wilds. The transformation of a one km stretch of previously unused tidal river path into a green wildlife corridor, linking Bow Ecology Park and the memorial gardens at Twelvetrees Crescent, providing an essential green corridor for the diverse wildlife to re-route from the many neighbouring brownfield sites that are imminently due for redevelopment.

Phase one included the introduction of half a km of green grids bolted to the river wall to encourage new reedbeds by Thames 21, development of a planting plan and relaxed maintenance scheme by GDP and RSPB, and the inclusion of Cody Wilds on all of TfL’s new signage and maps for the area.

GDP is now working with local schools, businesses and environmental organisations to take over the day to day management and further development of this environmental habitat. If you are interested in being involved in this, please visit our collaboration page.

Lea River Park / Leaway

The Lea River Park project connects Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park to the Royal Docks and the River Thames with new continuous public parklands – ‘completing’ the 26-mile long Lee Valley Regional Park. The strategic first phase of this vision is the delivery of a linear park named the Leaway which creates a continuous walking and cycling route along the River Lea. This connects a series of existing but fragmented public open spaces; over time this route will be added to with new parks and additional pedestrian and cycle connections, delivered as land becomes available.

Cody Dock’s strategic position and dynamic approach means it’s become a catalyst for opening up the Lower Lea and finally securing a continuous green corridor via the Lee Valley Park in the North, all the way to the Thames. The key role played by Gasworks Dock Partnership in unlocking and connecting up
access on the southern section of the Leaway was officially recognised in 2015 when it was appointed a strategic partner in the London Legacy Development Corporation ‘Leaway Path’ project.

Wild about the Crescent

Wild About The Crescent is an environmental group led by Cody Dock in partnership with local residents, schools and employees from neighbouring businesses.

We are creating a new wild life corridor as a means to engage local residents, local businesses and schools in the preservation of a pre-existing but rather neglected strip of woodland and undervalued green space. Through working with large numbers of local volunteers we aim to enhance and celebrate the existing green space and create a new habitat that brings about greater awareness of its existence, thereby bringing about a local culture change that increases awareness for the importance of urban wild spaces and helps to protect its future.