Local stretch of River Thames proposed as site for public bathing
Saturday 28th February 2026
The government has proposed that a stretch of the river, “Riverside at Ham and Kingston”, be designated as one of England’s newest official bathing sites.
Besides the obvious benefits to the public of having access to the river for bathing, the proposal comes with other benefits as it would also mean that the Environment Agency (EA) would be legally required to:
- Monitor water quality in the bathing season (May September)
- Provide transparency of the results and
- Investigate the sources of any pollution which might be bringing down the standards.
The government has launched a six-week consultation seeking views on the proposals, below. So if you would like to see this stretch of the river made available for bathing and for water quality to be monitored accordingly – or even if you don’t – why not complete the online consultation below? It takes approximately one – two minutes to complete.
