About 16km southwest of London, one will find the large suburban town of Twickenham where many residents and officials are aiming to create a cleaner Twickenham. The town is the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames’ administrative headquarters, and is also one of the important district centres that was identified by the London Plan. Since 1965, Twickenham has been part of the Greater London area.
In June 2011, heavy rainfall led to the discharge of sewage into the Thames River. Over 450,000 tonnes of sewage were pumped into the river on 5 June, killing thousands of fish. Twickenham MP Vince Cable was highly dissatisfied, and he indicated that this should be the last thing that should take place in the 21st century in a first world city. He promised to keep track of the progress made on the clean-up operation, which was conducted by Thames Water.
The chief executive of Thames Water, Martin Baggs, said that major work is being carried out to create a cleaner Twickenham cleaner Twickenham. In an attempt to undo some of the damage caused by the spill and to minimise the death of even more fish, Thames Water used oxygenation vessels to pump oxygen into the water.
Thames Water is increasing the Mogden sewage treatment works capacity by 50%; a project which should be completed by 2013. There are also other initiatives on the go to create a cleaner Twickenham. The Richmond and Twickenham Green Party will be standing in the next elections. This party aims to create a cleaner and more affordable future for people in the Twickenham area. Another organisation is The Environment Trust for Richmond upon Thames, a charity that aims to preserve and conserve wildlife, green spaces and helps to create a cleaner Twickenham through environmental awareness programmes.
Another charity operation is Friends Of the River Crane Environment, an organisation in Twickenham which aims to both enhance and protect the green areas and natural environment around the Duke of Northumberland's River and the River Crane. All these initiatives have the common goal of preserving natural resources and natural habitats to create a cleaner Twickenham for all. Studies have shown that all these programs have been successful.
