Thames Gateway Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Thames Gateway is a marketing term for those parts of East London, Essex and Kent bordering the Thames estuary.Geographically, the Thames Gateway is considered to run from West-ferry in the west through the Docklands to Southend-on-Sea in Essex and Sittingbourne in Kent.
It has been cited in govenment documentation that the incumbant party in office hold the opinion that there is great potential for economic growth and social advancement in this region, and that the development has the potential to relieve growth pressures on London and more fully developed regions surrounding London. Government opinion is no more reliable than opinion from other sources. The need for restraint on urban devlopment around London is a matter of much greater urgency for the long term interests of the population in the south east of England.
The exploitation of this region is organised under the auspices of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, in co-ordination with the three Regional Development Agencies concerned: Greater London Authority, the East of England Development Agency and the South East England Development Agency. The project aims to improve the economy of the region through renaissance of urban areas and development of areas that are as yet not urbanised.
Some comparisons may be drawn with developments east of Paris along the Marne valley, but here a much greater land space is available.
Significant concerns have been raised time and again that development of this area will damage the North Kent Marshes which are recognoised as an Environmentally Sensitive Area, by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Proposals for a large international airport on Cliffe Marshes were dropped from the government's white paper on air transport in 2003 after they were rejected by local residents, the local council, as well as conservation charities such as the RSPB. However some people never tire of flogging a dead horse, and there is a judicial review underway looking at other options for airport expansion including the possibility of a floating airport off the Isle of Sheppey. BBC News report.
The north of Kent has historically been a marshland area and is under great pressure by developers. In addition to the great variety of wild life found on and along the Thames, these marshes offer invaluable natural flood protection for London area, ever under threat of flooding.
Dave Wardle, of the Environment Agency, believes that "London and the Thames Estuary currently have one of the best tidal defence systems in the world."
The Environment Agency assesses these systems will provide a high standard of protection well beyond 2030. However they also advise that future development in the Thames Gateway must go hand in hand with flood risk management, and take account of future plans for flood protection. The Agency insists it is important that effective flood risk management of the whole Estuary is not prejudiced by early decisions and development on the Gateway. (Source: Audacity.org)
"In 1987 the World Commission on Environment and Development defined Sustainable Development as 'development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs'".
The very idea of promoting the ecological significance of the area by increasing public accessibility to the mashes and wetlands under threat, by improved transport corridors is nonsense and will cause further errosion of the area under review by these developments.
Before 2003 most conspicuous development was situated west of Beckton although housing schemes at Chafford Hundred, Chatham and Greenhithe have been substantial, a large shopping centre at Bluewater.
The Channel Tunnel Rail Link, currently still under construction, runs through the designated development area, crossing under the Thames near Dartford with an international railway station proposed at Ebbsfleet in Kent, and a second at Stratford in East London. This venture will shave 15 minutes of the journey time from London to Paris, and has to date exhausted nominated funding agreements several times, costing the taxpayer billions in excess of the proposed amount.
On the Essex side of the Thames, at Southend-on-Sea the council is using money provided through the scheme to redevelop the town centre and seafront and create a "transport corridor" along the A13.
Although these proposals were dropped in 2003 an international nautical freight service, requiring much of the removal of the Thames marshes at Cliffe, was also under consideration, with massive excavations envisaged to provide sufficient turning space for docking river traffic, consequently choking these very stated, and naturally occouring fortifications from flood by the ensuing development and infrasruture, as to lead to potentially catastrophic results further up river.
Transport for London is currently proposing a bridge between Beckton and Greenwich to be called the Thames Gateway Bridge. Along with the extensions of the Docklands Light Railway across the river to Woolwich, this will improve links between to two sides of the river and it is hoped this help spur economic growth and reduce the stress on existing road transport links.
During public consultation, 85% of respondents given the opportunity to air an opinion were in favour of the proposed bridge. However 74% supported keeping the Woolwich Ferry open "in some form". (Source: TFL Board paper on the bridge)
While the volume of traffic using the Ferry would diminish with a new bridge open, no decisions on the future of this traditional resource have been made, except that usage and viability of the Ferry will be reviewed after the TGB opens.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in his July 2004 spending review, that there would be money made available for extensive house building on brownfield sites in the region in order to ease the high demand for affordable housing in the South East.
Plans for a Lower Thames Crossing between Canvey or Shell Haven and the Hoo peninsula were shelved as they were dependent upon the creation of Cliffe Airport.
There are also many plans that have been proposed to develop the area around Stratford as part of the plan for London to host the 2012 Olympic Games.Environmental Concerns
Development To Date
Future Developments