16-Jun-2006
- Seven public organisations have signed up to
a new 25-year plan to ensure the Inner Thames
Marshes become a major part of a proposed Conservation
Park in the Thames Gateway development.
The Inner Thames Marshes Flood
and Water Level Management Plan aims to improve
the environment across the Site of Special Scientific
Interest (SSSI) while protecting homes and businesses
from flooding.
The Environment Agency plan
wasdeveloped with the RSPB, Port of London Authority,
the London Borough of Havering, Thurrock District
Council, English Nature and Westminster Dredging
for three locations: Aveley and Wennington Marshes,
the Silt Lagoons, and Rainham Marshes.
Innes Jones, Environment Agency
Area Manager, said: "Living in the flood
plain is not without risk. By producing this plan
with our partners we can balance the need to manage
flood risk, encourage local wildlife and meet
the needs of current and future communities of
the Thames Gateway.
"The marshes were severely
flooded by heavy storms in January 2003 demonstrating
how critical it is to not only understand the
movement of water on the marshes, but to actively
manage the site in a coordinated way in order
to better protect the area.
"We have been studying
the site since 1999, and these studies have provided
the foundation for this plan, which have also
had to consider the diverse range of activities
on the marshes, from the Channel Tunnel Rail Link
to RSPB's wetland areas."
The Inner Thames Marshes Flood
and Water Level Management Plan was signed by
the seven primary stakeholders at a ceremony hosted
by the Environment Agency and the RSPB at RSPB
Rainham Marshes Nature Reserve in Purfleet.
Chris Corrigan, RSPB South East
Regional Director, said: "The conservation
management of wetlands for biodiversity can and
should be consistent with the management of water
resources and flood risk. This new plan for the
Inner Thames Marshes will do just this.
"It is an important first
step to achieving a truly strategic approach to
water level management across the whole of the
Thames Gateway which, in these times of climate
change and increased demands on our water resources,
is urgently needed."
The Environment Agency owns
and operates a number of flood defense structures
in the marsh, including tidal sluices and a pumping
station. The Environment Agency are also responsible
for managing flood risk to properties in the area
while ensuring the SSSI has enough water.
As well as becoming an important
feature of the Thames Gateway development there
are a number of major transportation links that
cross the marshes including the A13, the Channel
Tunnel Railway Line and the LT&S Railway.
Currently managed by the RSPB,
Wennington and Aveley Marshes are an important
wetland site for wading birds and other wildlife
and make up 77% of the SSSI site. The RSPB are
developing the nature reserve as a flagship environmental
project and visitor destination within the Thames
Gateway, which will open to the public this October.
The 25-year plan will be reviewed
annually by the Environment Agency for the first
five years following a brief consultation period
with partners. Thereafter it will be reviewed
every five years.
Tim Abbott
