Surrey Bird Club wants to see more wetland habitats restored and created. As such, we were excited to hear about a major project to create a new Surrey wetland on the outskirts of London. It will form part of the existing Hogsmill Local Nature Reserve (LNR), and provide new habitat for birds, plants, and insects.

The Hogsmill River is a chalk stream, which starts from a spring in Ewell and travels through Ewell, Old Malden, and Berrylands, before reaching the Thames.  Chalk streams are globally rare, and the new wetland will improve the water quality in the Hogsmill River by filtering it before it enters the waterway.  This a great example of a ‘nature-based solution’ to meet challenging environmental problems, and Surrey Bird Club hopes this approach is used more widely across Surrey to improve waterways for our birds and communities.

The work has been led by the South East Rivers Trust in collaboration with other partners. Financial support was provided by the Coca-Cola Foundation, Thames Water, and charitable grants, as well as public funding from the Environment Agency, Natural England, and Surrey County Council.

The new wetland will, we hope, benefit local wildlife including the nearby bird community that includes species such as Kingfisher and Tawny Owl. The wetland should also, in time, provide wider environmental benefits, from increased carbon sequestration to storing water during period of either drought or flood.  Water is also known to be calming, and as such the local community and visitors will feel the emotional and mental well-being benefits from a more complex ecosystem full of wildlife.

More detailed information can be found at:

https://www.southeastriverstrust.org/projects/chamber-mead-wetlands.

Inset Photo: Robin Buller : October 2023 – Chamber Mead earthworks starting to fill with rain-water

September 2023: Earth moving begins on Chamber Mead Photo: Shaun Ferguson

May 2024: Chamber Mead  Photo: Shaun Ferguson

May 2024: Chamber Mead  Photo: Shaun Ferguson