Loss of and lack of boating facilities in the Tidal Thames

[Conrad]

Does anyone feel the same disapointment as I do about the total lack of investment by the EA and the PLA in marine infrastructure for leisure craft in the tidal Thames, £0 to date, the EA seem to spend money everywhere else but not here, the PLA just charge and don't seem to put anything back other than for freight.
Also whilst I'm moaning does anybody think its a travesty developers are able to rip out existing infrastructure and sterilise parts of the waterfront for boating, for example the award winning Crest development at Ingress Park Greenhithe saw the loss of a concrete slipway, a boat house, a wooden jetty for landing small craft as well as a large industrial jetty which could have been utilised with a bit of imagination.
Last but not least the fact that the public can't launch a trailored boat anywhere on the Thames is a crying shame, nor can you step on or off a moored vessel without the use of a dinghy.
Views most welcome.

Conrad

 

[BillyBloater]

I totally agree.

When I visited the tidal Thames last season I had a devil of a job planing the trip. Once through Teddington there is nowhere you can moor up let alone refuel. I managed to illegally park for an hour near St Kats for a starbucks though !

It would be fantastic to be able to use a slipway in central London and visit more often.

 

[alistairedw]

[ QUOTE ]

Last but not least the fact that the public can't launch a trailored boat anywhere on the Thames is a crying shame


[/ QUOTE ]

There is a slipway in Twickenham near the Barmy Arms that anyone can use.

You can launch and retrieve fairly large boats there but only at high water as there is very little depth at other times.

There are a occasional problems though. Idiots park their cars on the slipway, and occasionally there are boats mooring/drying out on the slipway.

 

[Brayman]

To be fair, I don't think the EA have much tidal river under their control.

 

[Conrad]

Apologies I should have said, I live in Kent, at Gravesend so really am referring to the bit downstream, from London to the Estuary, the bit the EA don't look after but the PLA do.

 

[MiskinDriver]

I agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly. In particular, the unwillingness of the pier operators to permit use by private boats (even for pick up/drop off) is wholly unreasonable. The lack of riverside facilities right through the centre of town and down to, effectively, Southend makes the trip through London more of a trek than an enjoyable event. When I asked TfL why I couldn't use their piers, inside and for no more than 10 minutes at a time, I was told that it was because they had insufficient information on my boarding procedures. When I offered tham a full, written procedure, along with a risk assessment and safety case - they hung up!

Suggest that you have a look at:

www.riverusergroup.com

which is trying to start a pressure point for facilities etc on the tidal river.

That said, I am not sure we can overly criticise PLA. They don't, in fact, charge leisure boaters anything - at least I'm not paying anything! They do make the effort to identify what facilities there are on their web page - so they could be a lot worse.

One bright spot on the horizon: the new pontoon development for vintage craft at Hermitage Wharf, Wapping, will have space for visiting boats to overnight - should be completed by the end of the year.

 

[Conrad]

Good to hear about the pressure group starting up I have felt a bit of a lone voice at times, I do hope they will be an organisation capable of receiving funds and directing investment as well.

The unchallenged subject of funding and the lack of fairness is quite long standing but the result is very apparent in the disparity of facilities. The government through DEFRA have comitted £400million into improving recreational water facilities and infrastructure to promote and grow leisure boating with all its positives offshoots, they have directed this money to the EA to spend which they are doing quite well, only last year for instance the EA invested £5m on the Upper Thames above Teddington Lock, the EA are also doing a sterling job in places like Rye on the South East Coast and the River Medway, it all goes wrong for the Lower Thames because the EA have devolved their responsibilities to the PLA. Now the PLA, (who again are doing a sterling job in protecting freight and the big infrastructure from the development pressures), have not had any of the governments money passed on to them, and haven't pursued it either, the result being whilst neglected resources are being maintained rescued and renovated up and down the country that all important route into and out of London is a barren wasteland for visistors both local and international.
The PLA does charge for the privilage of having buoys on the Thames, this charge is not for the equipment rental but for the use of the riverbed, £330 a year which even if there was only 200 moorings still comes to £60k pa enough to start investing back in other infrastructure I believe, if you back date that charge your in the millions after a few decades.
In my stretch I can highlight disused piers, a disused dock (Robin's Creek, ideal for a decent sized marina), several disused slipways, a home for power boats and house boats behind lock gates just a stone throw from Dartford Town Centre. I can also highlight miles of riverfront sterilised by greedy unchecked developers.

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