Memorandum submitted by Port of London
Authority (BW 82)
1. This memorandum is submitted by the Port
of London Authority, the statutory port, harbour and navigation
authority for the tidal River Thames, and is intended to address
the Sub-Committee's interest in the potential growth in freight
use of the waterways network, particularly that administered by
British Waterways. Although it is submitted by the PLA and therefore
solely relates to the experience in the Port of London and the
tidal River Thames, the context and issues it presents are relevant
to a number of other members of the United Kingdom Major Ports
Group operating estuarial ports.
2. The PLA's administrative area and statutory
duties extend to a distance of 150 km from the landward limits
at Teddington to the seaward limits in the outer estuary, which
roughly equate to a line drawn between Margate and Clacton. The
PLA, as a port authority, is under the auspices of the Department
for Transport, although the Port of London and River Thames is
also defined as an inland waterway, its constituent terminals
being wholly within the defined Smooth Water Line and a substantial
number located upstream (west) of the defined Inland Waterways
Boundary upstream of the Port of Tilbury.
3. The tidal River Thames is, by a considerable
margin, the most heavily trafficked inland waterway in the UK
(source: Waterborne Freight in the United Kingdom in 2005,
published by the Department for Transport), lifting almost 40%
(equating to 19 million tonnes) of the total goods lifted within
the UK's inland waters in 2005 and almost 45% (equating to 0.70
billion tonne-kilometres) of total goods moved within the UK's
inland waters. In terms of internal traffic (defined as all non-seagoing
traffic between wharves situated wholly within the SWL), the pre-eminence
of the River Thames is even greater, lifting almost 55% (equating
to 1.81 million tonnes) of the total goods lifted in 2005 and
a comparable percentage (equating to 0.09 billion tonne-kilometres)
of total goods moved. Particular increases in the volumes of internal
traffic handled were noted in 2005 by the PLA within Greater London.
4. Bulk cargoes, both dry and liquid, dominate
the list of cargo types transported on that part of the River
Thames defined as an inland waterway, with the transport of aggregates
in particular exhibiting substantial growth during 2005. However,
unitised cargoes are transported and handled as far upstream as
Dagenham.
5. The PLA is currently involved in a number
of trials which should increase the volumes, upstream distribution
and types of cargoes handled on that part of the River Thames
defined as an inland waterway. Furthermore, the PLA would submit
that there has recently been an increased willingness of both
existing Port of London operators and businesses keen to obtain
representation on the upper reaches of the Thames to investigate
the opportunities of shifting the currently road-based transport
of cargoes to the River Thames. This, the PLA considers, is as
a result of a combination of both "push" and "pull"
factors, and in particular the strong policies promoting the transport
of freight on the River Thames adopted by the Mayor of London
within the London Plan (the Regional Spatial Strategy for
London), including the protection of riparian land facilitated
through the wharf safeguarding policy originally sponsored by
the PLA, and also continuing high levels of traffic congestion
on the capital's road network. Financial measures, and particularly
the congestion charge and, positively, the Government's Freight
Facility Grant regime, are also notable factors in this examination
of modal shift within London away from the roads.
6. The River Thames, in common with the
UK's other main estuarial ports, offers a number and variety of
links into the wider inland waterway network, notably to those
administered by British Waterways (the River Lea and the associated
Bow Back Rivers from Bow Creek; the Grand Union Canal from both
Limehouse Basin and Brentford; and the remaining water spaces
within the Isle of Dogs) and the Environment Agency (the non-tidal
River Thames from Teddington). Apart from the waterborne transport
of aggregates from terminals on the River Thames to floating concrete
batching plants within the Isle of Dogs used in the construction
of major development projects, which has and continues to represent
a substantial volume, and the very occasional transport of abnormal
indivisible loads, the PLA is unaware of any current flows of
cargo between the Port of London and other parts of the capital's
inland waterway network.
7. Notwithstanding that the principle of
wharf safeguarding by ministerial direction has not been applied,
as it has on the River Thames, to the remainder of London's inland
waterway network, the relevant policies within the London Plan
promoting freight transport by water apply to all of London's
waterways. However, its discussions with operators leads the PLA
to believe that there is minimal recognition of the potential
of the capital's inland waterway network for the transport of
freight and, furthermore, issues and questions as to the feasibility
of the waterway itself and its associated infrastructure to physically
handle substantial volumes of freight.
8. The PLA believes that it is bulk cargoes,
and particularly dry bulks, that offer the greatest potential
for an increase in cargo transfer from the River Thames to the
capital's inland waterways administered by BW. Almost 50% of all
the aggregates sold in the capital are handled at wharves in Greater
London (source: London Aggregates Monitoring Report 2000-03,
published by the Greater London Authority) and this existing trade
offers certainty in terms of cargo supply for onward transhipment.
The construction efforts necessary for London's hosting of the
2012 Olympics and the subsequent legacy developments, together
with the aspirations of the Olympic Development Authority that
at least 50% of all construction deliveries will be made by sustainable
transport modes, provides an appropriate transhipment driver in
terms of cargo demand. The recent commitment to construct the
lock at Prescott Channel to facilitate waterborne freight transport
to the main Olympic Park site by (amongst others) BW is welcome
and the PLA is aware that operators are now incorporating the
use of the inland waterways linked by the Prescott Lock within
their logistical planning for the Olympics' construction.
9. The PLA believes that the transport of
materials for the development of the Olympics therefore represents
the best and simultaneously the final opportunity as to whether
the inland waterway network beyond the major estuarial ports has
a future transporting freight beyond small niche markets.
Port of London Authority
March 2007
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