Imagine a future where East London leads the way in nature-rich urban green spaces, where children learn in forest schools, and communities thrive around natural swimming ponds. A bold idea conceived and led by local people, this is the blueprint for East London Waterworks Park, a crowd-funded initiative that has galvanised the support of over 5,000 people in the local community, who have collectively raised more than half a million pounds to buy the site.

But all this could be lost forever if we don’t act now.

After five years of working tirelessly on plans to transform a concrete-covered plot of land on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney into a thriving park that is accessible to all for free, we have learnt that a government-backed planning application is about to be submitted. The land for our park could be lost to development, undermining our collective dream of creating the UK's first public swimming ponds cleaned by reeds and aquatic plants, alongside vital community and educational spaces.