Beaver plan 'will not be affected by sewage issue'

Sewage pollution problems in South Norwood Country Park will not affect plans to introduce Eurasian beavers, Croydon Council has said.

Sewage misconnections from nearby homes are resulting in waste being flushed directly into the Chaffinch Brook instead of going into sewers and via treatment works.

The south London council recently unveiled rewilding proposals for the site, including plans to release beavers into the park's lake.

The untreated sewage has been discharging into the stream for years. The council said it was working to ensure the environment was safe and the polluted watercourse was not connected to the lake the beavers could inhabit.

Amy Foster, Labour councillor for Woodside, said delayed works to address the misconnections were "a shocking indictment of the council's inability to hold partners to account or ensure its departments can work together effectively".

The contamination was first identified in mid-2024, when a Thames Water survey of 474 South Norwood properties found 16 on Cargreen Road discharging sewage into the nearby stream, including a block of eight social housing flats managed by Hyde Housing.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said a further investigation revealed that the original developer of the polluting properties, now in administration, had incorrectly connected them to a surface water drain instead of the foul sewer, allowing untreated sewage to flow directly into Chaffinch Brook.

The brook flows through the country park and joins the Waterlink Way's waterways, which run through south-east London to Greenwich.

Of the 16 properties, the issues at 14 have since been addressed. One of the two misconnected properties is privately owned.

Thames Water said the homes "represent the most significant ongoing impact on water quality in the area".

A spokesperson for Hyde Housing said: "We've been working hard to resolve this as quickly as possible and are ready to start work, including interim measures, and are just waiting for the go-ahead from Croydon Council."

Croydon Council, whose directly elected mayor is Conservative Jason Perry, said it was working with Hyde Housing to resolve the issue, but added that the housing provider must first complete the "necessary licensing requirements" before work could begin.

The council said it was working with the owners of the remaining property to confirm the misconnection and move towards a permanent fix.

No timelines were provided for the work to be completed. Until then, sewage will continue to flow into the brook, leading to what a Thames Water spokesperson described as "a serious impact on the environment".

The proposal to introduce Eurasian beavers to the country park is being developed in partnership with urban rewilding charity Citizen Zoo.

The organisation, alongside the Ealing Beaver Project, helped deliver London's first openly accessible urban beaver population, launched in Ealing in 2023.

The council and its partners said they were working to ensure the environment was safe and suitable for the animals.

Perry said introducing the species to South Norwood "would benefit local wildlife and be a massive boost for the borough".

Elliot Newton, director of rewilding at Citizen Zoo, said the site had "huge potential".

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