Earlier this year, we asked lots of people throughout the Wandle Valley to tell us what matters to you about the river, via our consultation workshops and a questionnaire.

The aim of this consultation is to identify what needs to be done to make the river healthy and attractive for both people and wildlife, and use these ideas to create a Catchment Plan for looking after the river.

There are two parts to the Catchment Plan – a Vision and an Action Plan. The Vision will outline the overall aims for achieving a healthy river, and the Action Plan will provide the scientific details and technical actions needed to achieve those aims. The Vision will be printed this autumn and the Action Plan will follow by Christmas. More information on the Action Plan will follow, but first, here are the details of how we are developing the Vision.

The themes that emerged as being important to you are wide-ranging. They include: wildlife and landscape, water quality and river character, access, engagement, recreation, activities, awareness, information and education, funding, stewardship, management and governance, engineering and the built environment, heritage and transport.

The values that you said were of top priority overall are: wildlife and landscape; water quality and river character; access; and engagement, recreation and activities.

These have been developed into four overall aims as a Vision for the Catchment Plan to deliver. But before we go any further, we want to check what you think about these findings. Do you think they reflect the things that matter most to you about the river and its surroundings?

We want to make sure everyone has had the chance to comment, and we want to hear from you even if you weren’t able to participate in the consultations previously.

Update: the questionnaire has now closed. Thanks to all of you who offered feedback.  It was very positive and we will take your points on board in the next stages.