It's been driven by the local MP. Taken her ages to organise and get court orders and then have multi agency action - Council, Environment Agency, Police etc. Local residents fed up with aggressive, drunk, drugged boat owners stopping them walking along the river. Dumping rubbish, using the local area as toilets, drug dealing and being massive ignorant pain in the arseLikely to be RTS related. A new flood alleviation scheme is planned for the area below St Aines upon Thames. Its no good having abandoned vessels in areas where major civil engineering works are going to take place in order to shift the water in larger volumes.
Part of the RTS will involve channel engineering downstream of Desborough cut (bed lowering) and an additional weir in Sunbury lock cut.
Interesting scheme which is getting close to acquiring the Development Consent Order.
The RTS is promoted by the Environment Agency and Surrey County Council.
I suspect this is just the start of a general move to clear the area of unauthorised vessels.
Sunbury weir and the sluices have had too many Boats going through or into them during high flow events.
The fatal rowing accident last October was partly related to a vessel blocking radial gates on the main Sunbury weir.