A river runs through it

There was some coverage over the weekend of proposals by London's Mayor Boris Johnson to unearth or open up London's rivers.

Because so many of these have been concreted-over or have dried up it is unsurprising that many who aren't familiar with London's history have no idea that our Capital has far more rivers running through it than just the Thames.

Locally, we are fortunate to have one of the few that remains above ground, at least for large sections of its length: the Wandle. The Wandle was also one of the rivers highlighted in the news coverage of the Mayor's plans. Although they would mainly affect areas downstream of the Southfields sections of the Wandle I welcome them; as I do any plans to reveal as many of London's forgotten rivers where it is practicable to do so.

I hope the Mayor's ideas also help defeat the plans to over-develop the Ram Brewery site which runs alongside the Wandle near its mouth into the Thames. Although these plans do not cover-over the Wandle, the huge tower blocks - of up to 42 storeys - proposed will create a dark canyon either side of it that will hardly enhance the river.

I'd also like a duty on those who own property abutting the Wandle (and other above-ground rivers) to provide a public path along the river enshrined in London planning law, in exactly the same way policies like this helped, over thirty years, create the Thames Path many of us enjoy today.

Large expanses of the Wandle, not least alongside King George's Park, are already open - there's a Wandle nature trail that takes you as far south as Croydon - but far more could be opened up, especially where there are prime re-development sites backing onto the river. Not everywhere will be appropriate - such a policy wouldn't force residents to surrender their back gardens for instance - but a lot more could be done to make the river more accessible.

And it will ensure that never again will councils be able to build shopping centres like Southside over the Wandle. One of the great missed opportunities of the Arndale (Southside) development is that had a more sensitive plan - which made the Wandle its feature - been implemented it would today be a far more vibrant, welcoming and popular shopping centre.