Londoners plan to create first new wild swimming ponds in 250 years

East London group hopes to raise enough money to turn concrete wasteland by River Lea into a brownfield rainforest'

A concrete-covered, brownfield industrial storage site does not scream out wild swimming haven. But a community group is hoping to transform the east London plot - currently used by Thames Water - into what is believed to be the capital's first new wild swimming ponds since Hampstead Ponds were created in 1777.

Under the proposed plans, residents want to buy the government-owned 5.68-hectare site on the polluted River Lea in Waltham Forest and turn it into a brownfield rainforest", featuring two free-to-use pools, community spaces, an anaerobic digester, a cafe and a make-and-repair hub.