Save our Chalk Streams

Chalk streams are an internationally and locally rare habitat found within London. A chalk river or stream which flows across or is influenced by chalk bedrock, there are only around 35 chalk rivers between 20 to 90 km long in the whole of the UK.

Currently, only 11 out of 220 British chalk streams have any legal protections, and even these fall short of the measures needed to defend these rivers.  The Government have a valuable opportunity to stand up for our chalk streams. We are calling on them to introduce specific legal protections in planning for all of our chalk streams, to protect them from development-related harm.

England's chalk streams' crystal-clear waters are home for salmon, water voles, white-clawed crayfish and kingfishers, making them our equivalent to the Great Barrier Reef or the Amazon Rainforest. A truly special habitat that we are so lucky to enjoy. 

Yet many of our chalk stream rivers are now polluted, dirty and choked by pollution, threatening the wildlife that calls them home and the people that rely on them for their wellbeing. The Government must introduce specific protections for all chalk streams in their planning reforms, to ensure these unique habitats are conserved and put into recovery for future generations. 

The plight of our chalk streams has been brought into stark relief by the recent and devastating release of 4,000 litres of diesel into the river Wandle, a chalk stream home to wildlife such as brown trout and kingfishers.

Some of supporters may remember that as recently as January 2025 we promoted a suggested walk along the Wandle, sharing some of the wonderful wildlife sights to be found there, including kingfishers. Watch the video below to see the river prior to the disastrous diesel release:

By granting chalk streams a better protection in planning, we can protect these unique rivers from the direct and indirect harms associated with new development. The Wildlife Trusts collectively are working in coalition to call on the Government to: 

• Define chalk streams as irreplaceable habitats 

• Introduce 50-100 metre buffer zones along the riparian corridor 

• Mandate Local Planning Authorities to take account of implications for water resources and sewerage systems of major housing developments in their Local Plans and proposal reviews 

• Raise standards for water efficiency within water-stressed chalk catchments to a minimum of 90 litres per person per day in new developments 

Sign a petition to get the Government to publish a ‘Chalk Stream Recovery Pack’ setting out how they would drive forward the protection and restoration of these globally-rare rivers. The Government have written the pack, but have so far failed to publish it! We think chalk streams deserve special attention; tell the Government that you do too by adding your name to this petition pressing Government to publish the pack: (Remember that Government petitions will e-mail you a verification link – your name won’t be added until you click to confirm, so look out for the e-mail).

Sign the petition
 

We are working alongside other Wildlife Trusts and nature charities to develop a chalk streams amendment to the Planning & Infrastructure Bill. This has the potential to grant chalk streams much-needed protections in planning. Make your voice heard: email your MP with the letter below and ask them to support the amendment. 

Write to your MP

See the amendment, tabled by Chris Hinchliff MP here: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/59-01/0196/amend/planning_rm_pbc_0325.pdf  

If you are unsure about who your MP is, find out here.