River Colne Catchment Action Network

Catchment projects

Hover over a numbered spot to see a project summary. Click on a spot to see the full project details. Alternatively view the project list.

The Pinn flows for 12 miles from north east of Harrow Weald Common to join the Frays River at Cowley. The Ash leaves the Colne at Staines and flows east for 6 miles to the Thames. The Duke of Northumberland and the Longford Rivers flow from the Colne near Heathrow to the Crane.

The Colne Valley Park covers 43 square miles of countryside on the edge of London, Herts, Bucks, Berks and Surrey. The Park includes over 70 lakes, 13 Sites of Special Scientific Interest, 5 country parks and hundreds of other green spaces.

11. Kingfisher Gardens Fish Pass

Aim: Involve people with their local waterbodies; Improve wildlife corridors

Tom White, Colne Catchment Manager for Groundwork South and the Colne Valley Regional Park, has been working in partnership with the Environment Agency to install fish and eel passes at Thorney Mill weir on the River Colne Brook. The successfully modified weir uses a baffle pass design. This involves precisely positioning rectangular baffles across the weir to increase water depth and reduce velocity in addition to providing resting locations for fish attempting to traverse the structure.

21. Butts Pond, Staines Moor: habitat improvement

Aim: Improve wildlife corridors; Work together

The pools at Butts Pond are on the Staines Moor SSSI and close to the Colne, the Wraysbury River and the Yeoveney Ditch. As out-of-channel pools they are particularly valuable as breeding sites for amphibia and insects. Volunteers regularly remove vegetation such as bulrush (Typha latifolia) from the pools to allow in light and maintain open water.

14. Lower Mill Farm weir

Aims: Manage flow

The weir structure at Lower Mill farm was the first impassable barrier to many fish entering the Colne system from the Thames.

13. West Drayton Mill

Aim: Improve wildlife corridors; Manage flow

Lower impoundment and create bypass channel and in-channel enhancements.

12. Harmondsworth Moor boardwalk

Aims: Involve people with their local waterbodies

New boardwalk to provide alternative route for the Colne Valley Trail across Harmondsworth Moor Country Park

10. Colne Valley Trail - section 3

Aims: Involve people with their local waterbodies

Create section 3 of the Colne Valley Trail from West Drayton to Staines.

9. Arthur Jacob Nature Reserve

Aims: Improve wildlife corridors

Improve the habitats and accessability of the Arthur Jacob Nature Reserve beside the Colne Brook.

8. Trout Lane

Aims: Involve people with their local waterbodies

Improve the appearance, accessability and landscape of Trout lane as a gateway to the Colne Valley Park from West Drayton.

7. River Signage

Aims: Involve people with their local waterbodies

Improve signage of rivers to raise awareness of local rivers and how they relate to the landscape.

6. Mouth of the Colne

Aims: Involve people with their local waterbodies

Create a sense of place through reducing signage clutter, installing interpretative/artwork and landscaping. Develop as distinctive destination in the Colne Valley Park.

5. Habitat enhancement in the Lower Colne

Aims: Improve wildlife corridors

Preventing Water Voles from Becoming Extinct in the Colne Valley and Angling and Nature Coservation.

4. Rivers around runways

Aims: Involve people with their local waterbodies

River enhancements including tree walks to the River Colne near Longford immediately to the west of Heathrow Airport

3. Crown Meadow

Aim: Involve people with their local waterbodies; Improve wildlife corridors

Following completion of tree works to enhance habitat in 2013, a new river improvement project is taking place on the Horton Brook this October 2019.

2. Wraysbury mud wharves

Aim: Involve people with their local waterbodies; Improve wildlife corridors

Improvements to a stretch of historical river bank and footpath to improve access, biodiversity and raise awareness of the areas heritage as an area where parishioners have the right to cut reed and throw mud!

1. Harmondsworth Moor river enhancements

Aims: Improve wildlife corridors

Tree management along the riverbanks to create areas of light and shade, protected areas for fish fry and install natural flow deflectors to improve biodiversity in and along the river bank .

7. 11 month contract Frays and Pinn coordinator

Aim: Control invasive non-native species; Involve people with their local waterbodies; Work together

Establish and maintain contacts with key volunteer groups
Consult with local support groups and users groups to improve access and local participation in river activities.
Plan, organise and deliver volunteering and engagements activities and events with community groups and residents
Maintain and manage events equipment
Carry out risk assessments on project sites as required and introduce any corrective actions resulting from these.
Act as responsible Health and Safety Officer at events.
Coordinate and direct volunteers working on projects
Manage volunteer delivery staff to increase event capacity