Campaigners splurged out on a family fun day on the banks of the Thames to warn off planners who they fear want to turn their park into a seven-year building site.

All the kids in Shadwell seemed to turned up for Saturday’s ‘big birthday bash’ to mark the 89th anniversary of King Edward Memorial Park being formally opened as ‘a gift to the people of the East London’.

A big chunk has been earmarked by Thames Water to construct London’s proposed ‘super sewer’ stretching 17 miles from Brentford to the Isle of Dogs, aimed at relieving the ageing Victorian system that now regularly overflows into the river whenever it pours.

The scheme would also leave a ‘legacy’ of a 45ft sewer ventilation shaft on the foreshore overlooking the remainder of the park and overshadowing homes in the area.

So East London’s ‘Save King Edward Memorial Park’ campaign organised some magic for the kids, cookie decorating, butterfly feeder making, giant bubbles, sports, arts and crafts, a bouncy castle and of course face painting.

That was the real business of the day for the kids at their open space which was dedicated to the memory of King Edward VII in June, 1922—when their great-great grandparents were kids themselves playing in the park.