Cool Oak Diary and our two year anniversary

It’s been 2 years since musician and writer, Ben Watt (above) started Cool Oak to help improve London’s historic Brent Reservoir (Welsh Harp) SSSI. Joining forces with Leila and Daniella from Friends of the Welsh Harp, and Leo Batten from Welsh Harp Conservation Group, at first they were just a nameless local group of campaigners badgering Natural England to recognise the damage being done under their nose. They gathered officially under the name Cool Oak a few months later, and set up this website, but not before making their presence felt with owners, stakeholders and others responsible for the reservoir’s health and upkeep.

Achievements include influencing the formation of the Welsh Harp Strategy Group in which the three owners - Canal and River Trust, Barnet Council, Brent Council - came together to devise a long-term green plan for the reservoir due for publication and potential third-party funding in 2023; the publication of Cool Oak’s own influential 15-point future plan in 2021; forcing the re-opening of the seemingly-closed debate about the validity of the proposed 200m Silk Stream footbridge across the protected north marsh; seeing the start of a regular clean-up of the protected marshes and a major self-seeded tree clearance around the reed beds by Canal and River Trust; helping focus the Environment Agency and Thames Water’s attention on the poor water quality entering the reservoir; and seeing the arrival four new floating nesting islands for the locally-endangered great crested grebe.

Ben has also beeen writing a monthly diary for arts-nature journal Caught By The River about our campaign since January 2022. The latest has just been posted. Happy Easter 🌿 👊