Independent local news faces huge financial challenges in its work holding local power to account Dorothy from Salamander on Today programme 45:20 www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Today - 29/08/2026 - BBC Sounds

News and current affairs, including Sports Desk, Weather and Thought for the Day.

bbc.co.uk

UPDATE: Lewisham hospital’s drill for water – What we do and do not know www.qwag.org.uk/update-lewisham-hospitals-drill-for-water-what-we-do-and-do-not-know/

More of the demon dumper’s medical and other waste flytipped into the #RiverQuaggy at #LeeGreen where it flows from #Greenwich borough into #Lewisham. This had been going on for months + years. It’s not clear what the councils are doing. We have raised this with 5 local councillors. One replied.

Not one but two kitchen sinks in a shopping trolley dumped in a park. Perhaps the person who’s done this does not know - or care - that to “throw everything but the kitchen sink” at a problem means to make an effort.

“Drought is only over once rivers, reservoirs and groundwaters are completely replenished. This can take months of significant and sustained rainfall, while the impacts on our wildlife can last for years.” www.gov.uk/government/news/coordinated-drought-response-intensifies-amid-extreme-weather

Balls! Little water in River #Ravensbourne in #Bromley, but loads of tennis 🥎 & golf ⛳️ balls. So that’s alright… 2nd pic: dry river bed, Hayes Lane Nuffield Leisure Centre. 3rd & 4th pics: river not flowing through #NormanPark - just a few isolated pools. #drought #rivers

The demon dumper is still at it (grainy pic from video we have) but Greenwich and Lewisham councils are still letting this happen. We asked them in April to liaise to stop dumping of personal medical waste etc in the #RiverQuaggy at #LeeGreen: qwag.org.uk/200-bags-of-...

Climate cover up? @salamandernews.org www.salamandernews.org/2026-08-as-e...

As Europe burns, the UK's climate coverup continues

This article by CCNow is published here as part of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now.

salamandernews.org

Could a clean energy project harm the Ravensbourne? Our rivers and water are already under "immense stress" @quaggyriveraction.bsky.social www.salamandernews.org/2026-07-rive...

River protectors fear impacts as Lewisham hospital heat pump project awaits go-ahead

Test results due this week will determine whether the huge project is technically viable. But campaigners are raising concerns about the impact of the system on rivers and waters that are already und...

salamandernews.org

Pouring tomato sauce into a tree pit is the same kind of mentality as deliberately polluting our rivers. Grow up!

Quality of England’s rivers & waters drops – again New data shows a drop in the ecological quality of England’s 4,658 rivers, lakes & surface water bodies: - just 14.3% have ‘Good Ecological Status’, down from 16% in 2019 - none pass for chemicals - the same as in 2019. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Pollution Update: Monday 27 July 2026

Salamander News reports on the #Ladywell Fields drilling www.salamandernews.org/2026-07-rive... @salamandernews.org

After two months of seeking answers here’s QWAG’s snapshot of what’s happening in #Ladywell Fields with the hospital’s drilling into the chalk aquifer. qwag.org.uk/drilling-for...

Any guesses? Where is this and what is happening?

Pollution Update - Mon 13 July pollution of the #RiverQuaggy at Osborne Terrace #LeeGreen where it flows from #Greenwich into #Lewisham. Pollution all the way down to Manor House Gardens & Manor Park then into central Lewisham, to meet the #Ravensbourne and then #Deptford Creek & the Thames.

Pollution update: 10 July 2026 update from the Environment Agency on Category1 pollution of the River Pool.

Blimey! Lots of Monzo bank cards in the #RiverQuaggy. These two are both in date and we tried to let #Monzo know, but making it easy to report something like this is clearly too trivial for a mega corporation to bother with.

Bouquets of Himalayan Balsam - removed about fifty Himalayan Balsam plants from the #RiverQuaggy between Manor Park and Staplehurst Road.

Pollution update: 3 July 2026 update from the Environment Agency on the fish and eel kills and other effects of the pollution the River Pool.

A fascinating visit to #Bromley reaches of the #Ravensbourne river catchment. But theres a lack of water on both sides of the town centre - the Civic Centre / Bishops Palace / St Blaise’s Well + the Glassmill Pond / Martin Hill. Too much water taken and leaks not being fixed?

Find out more about the #RiverQuaggy, our other local rivers + what’s needed to protect & restore them for all - at the Manor House Gardens Festival - Saturday 2O June. Pop by our stall for a chat, and to see if we can answer your questions or help in any other way. Get to know your local rivers.

Not sure why there’s so much secrecy around this #Lewisham hospital heat pump scheme in #Ladywell Fields, on the #River #Ravensbourne. If there’s nothing to hide… www.salamandernews.org/2026-06-hosp...

Hospital heat pump project starts on Ladywell Fields nature conservation site

Lewisham and Greenwich NHS trust will drill test boreholes for its ground source heat pump project in the designated nature conservation site (SINC) next to Lewisham hospital.

salamandernews.org

River will take decades to recover from 'vandalism' by farmer www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Herefordshire river will take decades to recover from 'vandalism'

An ecologist says it'll take a generation for the River Lugg in Herefordshire to recover from damage done by farmer John Price

bbc.co.uk

Charter signed giving the River Wye the right to be pollution free www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/czx21820rn4o

River Wye becomes first UK river to gain charter rights

The Wye has become the first river in the UK to have a charter covering it from source to sea.

bbc.co.uk

Have you seen it yet? New #RiverQuaggy sculpture in downtown #Lewisham. For more see the article on our website: www.qwag.org.uk Or qwag.org.uk/new-quaggy-s...

200+ bags of medical waste removed by QWAG from the #RiverQuaggy But is the person doing the dumping back in town? www.qwag.org.uk/200-bags-of-medical-waste-removed-by-qwag/

Pollution saga - 1 house, 1 river, 4 years. Read the saga of trying to get local councillors, council officers, the Environment Agency, Thames Water + others to act to prevent deliberate pollution of our local rivers. There’s a short version and a long story for the full detail. See: qwag.org.uk

If you saw the kingfishers in Oxfordshire on the latest David Attenborough BBC wildlife series #SecretGarden, you can also see these halcyon wild species on our local rivers right here in South East London - on much of the #RiverQuaggy and the #RiverRavensbourne

Pollution Update: Sunday 15 March Central Catford - chemicals being stored on the edge of the River Ravensbourne on the Waterlink Way near the Halfords / Wickes site at #Catford Bridge. The delta-shaped staining from the water outfall pipe is still going strong.