Clean up of rivers will encourage more black people to swim, claims London deputy mayor

By Noah Vickers, Local Democracy Reporter

Sadiq Khan’s plan to create “swimmable rivers” across London within the next decade will play an important role in delivering “social and racial justice” in the capital, his deputy mayor for the environment has claimed.

Deputy mayor Mete Coban told the London Assembly that the plan was not only about improving water quality, but also ensuring an improved level of access to swimming for some of the city’s most deprived communities.

Speaking to the Assembly’s environment committee, Mr Coban confirmed that the mayor’s ambition is for all of London’s waterways to be brought up to a “swimmable” standard, in terms of cleanliness, by 2034 – although he cautioned that not all would necessarily be safe or suitable for swimming due to tides, depth and other factors.

The committee’s Green Party chairman, Zack Polanksi, welcomed the target. The deputy mayor responded: “That is a huge commitment, but at the same time we’ve got to be ambitious for our city. We’re doing this because this is fundamentally a social and racial justice issue for Londoners.”

Mr Coban went on to claim that “94 per cent of young, black Londoners don’t know how to swim”, although the mayor’s office later clarified that he was misspeaking. They said he was instead referring to the fact that, according to Sport England, 95 per cent of black adults and 80 per cent of black children do not swim – regardless of whether they know how to or not.

Sport England states that the same is also true of 93 per cent of Asian (excluding Chinese) adults, and 78 per cent of Asian (excluding Chinese) children. For white British adults however, the equivalent figure drops to 89 per cent, and for white British children, 71 per cent.

The deputy mayor continued: “A big part of that is because of the lack of education and access to swimmable sites. So we do want to be ambitious, to create as many swimmable sites as possible, where it’s safe to do so.

“We’re not saying everywhere will be safe, we know that not everywhere will be safe, so we’re very mindful of that – but I think it’s really important to also emphasise that a core part of this is more than just about swimming.

“This is about creating cleaner and healthier waterways, and access comes in many forms. That could be in terms of swimmable sites, but also, actually, it’s more about how do we create the nice pathways where people can enjoy their neighbourhoods and walk along the sides of their waterways, really recognising the huge benefits that unlocks for people’s mental wellbeing.”

The deputy mayor separately revealed that Sir Sadiq will hold a roundtable discussion in March, where “international partners” from cities like Paris will be invited to share examples of the work they’ve been doing to clean up urban rivers.

Pictured top: Deputy mayor Mete Coban addressing the London Assembly environment committee (Picture: London Assembly webcast)