Contractors and volunteers are now working on the River Colne at Oxhey Park, Riverside and Lairage Land, the next stage of Watford's 10-year river restoration.
Restoration work has started on the River Colne at three sites in the south of Watford: Oxhey Park, Riverside and Lairage Land. Watford Borough Council announced it on Tuesday. It is the next stage of a 10-year programme to bring the river back to health, after the northern stretch was finished in the spring.
The council’s release of 29 September says the works follow “a year of design and technical development”. They will run over the coming months.
What is being done
The council lists five kinds of work at the three sites:
- habitat creation
- floodplain enhancements
- tree and vegetation planting
- fish passage improvements
- riverside access improvements
Residents may see volunteers, contractors and machinery on site. The council says specialist jobs need contractors and equipment, but volunteers will do many of the others.
Elected Mayor Peter Taylor called the river “one of our most important natural assets” and the works “a significant step towards creating a healthier river for future generations”.
The release does not give a cost for this phase or a finish date. It does not say whether any paths will close.
What happened upstream
The programme, called Rediscovering the River Colne, began work in the north of the town. The project reached a milestone in March, when it finished at Radlett Road Recreation Ground. With earlier works at Knutsford South and Timberlake Allotments, that means 2.2km of the Colne in Watford has now been improved.
At Radlett Road, contractor Salix did the following:
- built low-level berms between the bank and the water, giving plants room to grow
- put fallen and dead trees into the river, to vary the flow and shelter fish
- regraded steep, eroded banks into gentler slopes, which helps water voles
- cleared dense bramble and planted new trees
- dug shallow seasonal scrapes on the floodplain to hold rain and floodwater
- reopened historic channels blocked by silt
That is a fair guide to what the southern sites can expect, though the council has not said the work will be identical.
Who is paying
In July 2025 the council won £198,000 from the Water Restoration Fund, in a bid made with the charity Groundwork East. That fund is paid for by fines and penalties collected from water and sewerage companies between April 2022 and October 2023.
The council said the money would pay to plan and design restoration at exactly these three sites. It named berms to improve flow, reconnected backwaters, less shading and better access. The same bid also covered:
- fish passes on weirs, so fish can move up and down the river
- a new constructed wetland at Radlett Road, to filter runoff from one of the worst polluting outfalls
- volunteer water quality monitoring
- a Junior River Wardens programme for young people
The council describes the Colne as a Priority Habitat Chalk River.
The original plans for Oxhey Park and Lairage Land
Cabinet approved the programme in principle on 4 October 2021 for 2021 to 2031. Its papers included concept plans for each site.
The Lairage Land plan proposed removing a revetment (a hard bank lining), adding woody debris and a flow deflector, building a backwater pond, opening up views of the river from Ebury Way, and a new footpath with a bird hide. The Oxhey Park plan covered wet woodland, new signs, a possible community art piece, and repainting the bridge.
Those were concepts, five years old. The council has not said which of them are in the current works.
What it means for you
If you walk, cycle or run through Oxhey Park, Riverside or along the Ebury Way by Lairage Land, expect machinery and fenced-off work areas for a while. Nothing has been announced about path closures.
There are ways to take part:
- Green Gym meets at Watford Rugby Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 10am to 1pm, for conservation work along the river. It is free and suits all fitness levels, according to the project’s Get Involved page.
- Wild Play is a free family session at Oxhey Park Bridge on Thursday 29 October, in half term, 10am to 2pm. It is for children aged 3 to 9 with a parent or guardian. Book on Eventbrite.
- The project is also looking for paid walk leaders for new community walks along the river.
If you see pollution in the Colne, report it to the Environment Agency’s incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
For more places to spend a day outdoors, see our guide to things to do in Watford. For the wider plans for the Colne Valley area of the town, see our Watford planning news page.
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