Well-meaning environmentalist barrister who cleaned up rubbish-infested river is probed by busybody officials and told he needs a licence

An environmental lawyer who cleaned up a rubbish-filled river is being investigated by Jobsworth authorities after being told he needed a licence.

Paul Powlesland, 40, is being investigated by the Environment Agency (EA) after organizing a team of volunteers to clean up part of the River Roding in Barking, east London, in March.

Hiring a £1,000 digger, the group removed 200 bags of waste, including packaging, needles, household appliances and even guns, from one side of the polluted river.

But soon Mr Powlesland, who was living on a houseboat on the river, received a letter from the watchdog claiming he was carrying out works without environmental consent.

Breaking the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 by carrying out works without permission can lead to a prison sentence of up to two years.

But he vowed to continue clean-up efforts despite the warning and called on the environmental watchdog to ‘get on board’.

He said: ‘This river will be restored; They now have a clear choice.

Paul Powlesland, photographed on part of Alders Stream in Ilford, east London, received a letter from the environment watchdog saying he was under investigation

‘They can fight with me and the other wonderful volunteers who do the work, or they can come on board and help us and be the good guys in this business.

‘I don’t think they will win this in public. ‘Fight with us or come aboard with us.’

Mr. Powlesland said he learned of the cleanup efforts after he and other volunteers posted updates in a private Facebook group.

He said: ‘I hadn’t even shared the work publicly, just in our private Facebook group.

‘It looks like there are EA spies in our Facebook group spying on locals restoring a river.

‘I don’t see how else they could have known, there’s no other way they could have known.’

But he said his group’s efforts to clean up the Roding River showed the aquatic ecosystem was ‘coming back to life’.

Mr Powlesland added: ‘Our irises and reeds are coming back; I saw fish there for the first time a few weeks ago, dragonflies and herons were returning.

Mr Powlesland and his team found packaging, needles, household tools and weapons while cleaning up the River Roding (pictured)

‘The whole ecosystem is coming back to life, now instead of stagnant mud there is actually water.

‘This is what we see over and over again: If you remove litter and invasive species, if you bring some light back to the river, incredible things happen.

‘It’s not rocket science and it’s not impossible. Even an urban river like the Roding can be ecologically rich and restored for surprisingly little money.’

Mr Powlesland said he wanted the EA’s enforcement priorities to be redirected and that his group, as volunteers, should not have to spend their own money and jump through regulatory hoops to devote their own time to cleaning things up.

He pointed to the Thames Water sewer outlet, about 200 meters above the restored Alders Brook site, where he claimed sewage often ‘gushed’ into the water.

The water company said the outlet was legal.

He said it was an ‘absolute shame’ that authorities did not listen to those who knew the river.

Mr Powlesland added that companies should instead help groups like his provide what is ‘needed’ for the river, rather than getting in the way.

A spokesman for EA said it ‘welcomed’ communities taking steps to improve their local environment, but insisted it was ‘unacceptable’ to undertake work without the appropriate permits.

They added: ‘Environmental permits are there to ensure that work does not cause flood risk, drainage or unintended damage to the wider environment.’

A spokesman for Thames Water said they understood the ‘concerns’ expressed by Mr Powlesland and River Roding residents.

They said: ‘We are undertaking our biggest wastewater network upgrade in 150 years, increasing treatment capacity, reducing storm discharges and introducing nutrient reduction plans.

‘Clean and safe rivers are a shared priority and we support efforts to improve water quality.

‘We are committed to helping waterways thrive, but farming, industry, road run-off and increasingly extreme weather are also affecting river health.

‘Similar to discharges from our sewage treatment works, Combined Sewer Outfalls (CSOs) on the River Roding operate within limits set by the Environment Agency and are a legally permitted process of the wastewater system.

‘These discharges are greatly diluted by rainwater, and the system was originally designed this way to prevent sewage from backing up into people’s homes during periods of heavy rainfall.

‘We take our responsibility to seriously monitor and maintain our wastewater network and understand the concerns raised by Mr Powlesland and residents.

‘We actively encourage the reporting of any spills that potentially pollute waterways and will always investigate them fully.’