Wetland volunteers honoured with plaque on Hackney Marshes

Volunteers were joined by Cllr Kennedy (third from left) at the unveiling. Photograph: courtesy Lee Valley Regional Park Authority

Local residents and groups have been honoured for their work in helping to restore a nature reserve on Hackney Marshes.

Earlier this week, the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) unveiled a new brass plaque at the Middlesex Filter Beds, recognising the work of dozens of volunteers who spent months clearing scrubland to reclaim the “lost wetland”.

Special thanks were given by Cllr Chris Kennedy, the borough’s voluntary sector chief who sits on the LVRPA board.

He told the Citizen: “It was a real pleasure to be at the unveiling of this plaque. It celebrates all the hard work of the volunteers who worked alongside the park rangers to make the Middlesex Filter Beds ready for water again.

“We hope the revitalised reed beds will soon see the return of a broadened biodiversity like dragon flies, reed warblers and snipe.”

Located in the park where the boroughs of Hackney and Leyton intersect, the filter beds were installed in the 1800s to purify water and sewage following cholera outbreaks that killed thousands.

They later served as a key wetland resource once they moved into the custodianship of the park authority, but keeping them filled with water became difficult due to the theft of equipment.

In September, the LVRPA completed a two-year project to return the wetland ecosystem to its “former glory”, with the aim of benefitting local wildlife while retaining the site’s “historical integrity”.

The volunteer groups who dived into the restoration work included Clapton Green Gym, Lea Bridge Conservation Volunteers and Haggerston Gardeners, alongside the park authority’s regular supporters.

LVRPA’s Paul Roper said the authority had been committed to reinstating this wetland amid the wider loss of similar habitats across the UK.

He praised the thousands of hours put in by volunteers in the face of challenges such as securing electricity to pump water into the beds.

“The volunteers played such a key role in this project that we wanted a permanent thank you at the site for their contribution,” he added.

Ranger services manager, Ges Hoddinott, said the rewetting of the filter beds had enhanced biodiversity at the site off Lea Bridge Road and created habitats for a wide range of birds, amphibians and insects.