Campaigners are pushing for wild swimming ponds on a site where the government tried to build two schools.

CPRE London, the London branch of The Countryside Charity, and Save Lea Marshes want to transform the filter beds on Lea Bridge Road, once used by Thames Water, into a place for wild swimming.

However, the land is owned by the government’s Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA).

In March this year, the ESFA applied to Waltham Forest Council to build a primary and secondary school on the site.

The council rejected the application, stating the land was Metropolitan Open Land, a form of land designation to protect areas of landscape, recreation, nature conservation or scientific interest.

Campaigner Harry Hewat said: ‘I’ve always been shocked by how dislocated this landscape is, with so many barriers and fences that detract from the natural beauty of the area and the ability to roam. This site is the missing piece of the jigsaw.

“Opening it up will stitch together Leyton and Walthamstow Marshes to the north, the Waterworks Centre Nature Reserve to the east, Hackney Marshes and Middlesex Filter Beds to the south and the river and towpath to the west to create a huge urban park. We’re calling it the East London Waterworks Park!”

Historically, the Leyton Thames Water site was part of the Lea Bridge Waterworks, providing water to residents.

A complex of 25 filter beds were served by an aqueduct bringing water from the Walthamstow reservoirs further north.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

The site was closed after the Coppermill Water Treatment Works were opened in 1972.

An online petition for the site to be turned into a wild swimming spot has amassed over 220 signatures at the time of writing.

Abigail Woodman, of Save Lea Marshes, said: “We want people to sign our petition. The is Metropolitan Open Land and should be returned to the people of East London as a place for wild swimming and a place where people learn to live harmoniously with nature through small-scale food growing or sustainable foraging. It should be rewilded, with the built environment reclaimed by nature in some places and landscaping and planting in others.’

Campaigner and landscape architect, Kirsty Badenoch, added: “In our time of environmental crisis, chances to protect and reclaim areas of inner-city Metropolitan Open Land have never been more important. This currently under-utilised site has a strategic position within the Lea Valley Regional Park and this is a rare opportunity to reconnect the wider ecologies and provide valuable community green space.”

Alice Roberts of CPRE London said: “We call on Waltham Forest Council to work with the ESFA and the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority to take full advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to create a unique park uniting Waltham Forest and Hackney.”