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PLA RIVER USERS CONSULTATIVE FORUM (UPPER) Notes of the meeting held at Watermen’s Hall at 10:30 on

Thursday 13th November 2014

Present: Mark Towens (Chairman) PLA, Harbour Master Upper (HMU) Steve Rushbrook PLA, Deputy Harbour Master Upper 1 Darren Knight PLA, Assistant Harbour Master Recreational Ryan Hall PLA, Deputy Harbour Master Upper 2 Jon Beckett PLA, HMU Operations Coordinator Denise Rowley PLA (environment) Rod Shaw MCA Mike Greenwood MCA Janet Kelly RNLI Tania Martin MPU Jane Commons London River Services Steve Davies Royal Yachting Association Graham Faulkner GPS Marine Peter Finch River Thames Society Richard Hart RYA/ATYC Pamela Chart ATYC Roger Squires Inland Waterways Association Scott Neicho CPBS John Greenuflak Thames Shipping Andy Batchelor EA Bill Mitchell TRRC Billy Ruler City Cruises Nat Brice Chalk and Clay Marine Alan Clifford London Duck Tours Mark Thomson Thames Clippers Mark Wilson Batteaux Adrian Bates MCA

Apologies for Absence Neil Caborn Cory Environmental David White MCA Paul Watkins MCA Roger Flitter Passenger Boat Association Stuart Smith Port Health Authority Derek Mann Thames Clippers Terry Lawrence PLA, Harbour Master Thames Tideway Tunnel Tanya Ferry PLA, Environment Manager Michael Shefras RYA Thames & London Alex Hickman Thames Practitioners Group Matthew Beckwith City Cruises Darren Tulley LFB Alistair Gale PLA, Corporate Affairs Adrian Allworth Thames Executive Charters Phil Wilkinson PLA 1. Maters Arising and Review of Action Points from the Minutes of the River Users

Consultative Forum (Upper) held on Thursday 10th April 2014

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Advising PLA Environment Team about relevant changes in number of vessels in the fleet/clubs using the tidal Thames - Closed 2. PLA Update

a. Regulatory and Navigational SMS i. Vessel Licensing Byelaws

No objections were received during the formal public consultation, which closed on 22 September. The Secretary of State has confirmed the Byelaws, which will come into force on 27 November. Hard copies are being produced and a Notice to Mariners will be issued shortly.

ii. Code of Practice for Ship Towage Operations The review is almost complete. An updated Code will be issued soon.

iii. Review of Permanent Notices to Mariners The 2014 edition was published last month.

iv. Review of Codes of Practice Craft Towage - One response received from the associated public consultation. The Code will be re-published incorporating amendments currently published as Notices to Mariners. Rowing and Passenger Vessel Codes of Practice will be reviewed in 2015.

v. Recreational Users Guide An updated 2015 edition will be published before the 2015 season.

vi. Be Safe Be Seen Work continues on the Be safe & Be Seen initiative for paddlers etc

b. Port Security

i. ISPS Security Level UK Ports ISPS Security Level remains at Level 1.

ii. Threat Level The national overall threat level has been increased to SEVERE.

iii. Port Security Authority The last meeting of the Thames Port Security Authority was on 22 October. The Passenger Boat Association is represented at the PSA meetings.

c. Recreational Update

i. Since the last RUCF, AHMR has meet with 22 various recreational clubs, in addition to this we have attend the latest Thames Estuary Partnership Recreation & Access Group meeting and become regular attendees at the RYA Thames Valley and London Regional meetings whilst we become increasingly engaged with the recreational river community.

ii. Since the last RUCF, the Tidal Thames Navigators Club has seen an increase in members of just over 170 members since April 2014 and now stands at just over 800. The PLA still wants to encourage more recreational river users to join the club; therefore following the PLA’s first TTNC Pre-Season Briefing on board the SALIENT in April this year, we are now working on a 2015 Pre-Season Briefing for the recreational river community.

iii. The bi-annual PHRNG (PLA Harbourmasters Recreational Navigation Group) meeting was held on 13th October 2014, which was well attended and involved good discussions on a number of topics. PHRNG members have been asked for their thoughts and opinions on how the PLA can develop both the TTNC and BOTT.

iv. The Greenwich Reach Rowing Code Risk Assessment and cover note has been sent to NMT for approval. In addition the Rowing Code of Practice has undergone a thorough review and the Greenwich Reach Code has also been

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added. We hope to be reviewing the first draft of the amended code with the TRRC shortly, before external consultation.

v. A 2014 edition of the Canoe & Kayaking Guide has now been published and we are likely to combine this guide with the SUP guide shortly, to produce a ‘Paddling Code of Practice’ similar in style as the Rowing Code.

vi. A review of the ‘Be Seen – Be Safe’ Guide has began and have been benchmarking it against the TfL ‘Cycle Safety Toolkit’ and New Road and Street Works Act 1991 Safety at Street Works. It is likely that the information contained in this guide will be combined within both the; Rowing Code and Paddling Code. In addition we are looking at launching a Vulnerable River Users Campaign in Spring 2015. The campaign will be focused on raising awareness of Vulnerable River Users with the commercial operators and likewise tips to the Vulnerable River Users’ on way’s they could raise their profile whilst on the water

vii. In addition to the Head of the River Races this year, the Thames hosted the Richmond Kayak Halser Marathon Finals on the 12th October with over 800 kayakers participating. We was able to manage this event with local traffic control which was quite an accomplishment given the number of participants, though we was equally blessed that there was very limited river traffic on the stretch of river affected.

viii. The ‘PLA Ebb Tide Flag Warning System’ continues to work well after it’s first eight months and we will be reviewing the entire system to check its continued effectiveness in February 2015.

ix. The Annual PLA Draw-Off is underway and will conclude on 23rd November. The PLA will be walking the foreshore on Friday 14th November – to discover if there are any unidentified underwater obstructions.

x. Finally the HMU team have continued to attended recreational clubs since the last RUCF and given presentations about river safety. All of these have been well attended and has proved very useful and popular – which we have encouraged other recreation clubs to invite us along too.

d. Environmental Update i. River Basin Management Plans

The Environment Agency are consulting on River Basin Management Plans. The PLA will be responding, but it would be good for the consultation to receive lots of river user feedback. The consultation can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/update-to-the-draft-river-basin-management-plans which links to https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/portal/ho/wfd/draft_plans/consult

ii. Litter Forum The PLA have established a Litter Forum with the aim of reducing the amount of litter in the river. The first meeting was last month and was well attended, including representatives from charities, academics, operators, RYA, BMF and LRS. One of the areas that we would like some feedback on is the impact of litter, so we would appreciate notification of any navigational issues caused by litter. Please notify the PLA environment team at environment@pla.co.uk

iii. MMO We continue to work with the MMO to reduce red tape

iv. Dredging The Dredging Baseline Document has been published and will be up on the PLA website shortly.

v. PLA Byelaw 49 On 1 January 2015 the new PLA Byelaw 49 will come into force. The byelaw prohibits the discharge of sewage from PLA-licensed vessels and houseboats

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into the Thames. The PLA is producing a guidance note which will be published on our website before the end of the month. The aim of the note is to help those affected comply with the byelaw. The lack of readily available facilities was questioned. HMU advised that the PLA is working with houseboat enclaves regarding possible methods of disposal, including a mobile disposal service. There has been no traction with operators to provide facilities, so the PLA is considering this. HMU informed the forum that these regulations would apply to houseboats and commercial vessels licenced by the PLA. Some commercial operators are looking to provide their own facilities.

vi. Quagga Muscles (Post-Meeting Note) Attendees may have seen recent press reports about the non-native invasive species Quagga Mussel being found in reservoirs in West London. Preventing the spread of this and other non-native invasives is important, and we encourage the adoption of Check-Clean-Dry practices (http://www.nonnativespecies.org/checkcleandry/). To that end, we attach a copy of a PLA Briefing Note and an Invasive Species Alert from the British Non-Native Species Secretariat for your information. The London Invasive Species Initiative and the Environment Agency are running a Quagga Mussel and biosecurity workshop on 27 November and are keen for representatives from river users to attend. If you are interested, please contact Karen Harper at Karen.harper@gigl.org.uk or 020 7803 4290.

3. MCA District Safety a. BML update

i. BML regulations are being amended, to become live in Easter. To summarise, in line with DSMC changes, the onus will be placed on the Operators to regulate themselves, i.e. ensuring masters have relevant medicals.

ii. The provision to choose an LKE area is also part of the changes. iii. The idea is to reduce legislation and make it easier to amend the regulations

in the future

b. Code of Safe Working Practices i. COSWPs have been amended, to be promulgated early next year, including

alcohol misuse at sea – 149 fatalities last year attributable to drink.

c. Coastguard i. Coastguard – National Coordination Centre at Fareham is up and running.

This will not affect LCG.

d. DSMC i. The DSMC is under review, and has just passed public consultation. This will

come out early 2015. In summary, there is a change in responsibilities – operators will take more responsibility to regulate themselves.

4. Navigational Safety

a. Incident Review Incident Review from 1st April 2014 to 31st October 2014 was circulated in advance of the meeting and attached as Appendix A.

b. Non Reporting of Incidents The non-reporting of incidents was discussed, and a general note to the forum to ensure all incidents are reported to VTS and to the HM via an incident report form.

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5. Other Updates

a. Police MPU i. The MPU advised the forum of the expected procedure for New Year’s Eve –

All operators on the river after 19:00 would need to complete a Risk Assessment and submit to MPU.

b. Coastguard i. No trend or pattern in the figures for 2014, with incidents levelling out over the

past year. ii. The CG link into the Police CAD system has proved useful over the last 18

months. iii. The bigger picture for the CG was outlined – New National Operations Centre

operational since September. Various CGs have been closed and absorbed into the national network.

iv. Thames CG will close next June. Dover and London will be absorbed into the network on December 15th. No change in the London CG service will be apparent.

c. RNLI i. Tower Lifeboat has been called 468 times. These calls have mainly been to

jumpers or those requiring first aid treatments on board Class V passenger vessels.

i. With LAS going through various changes, they have been implementing a harsh priority system, meaning that casualties may be with the lifeboat for longer than usual.

ii. RNLI suggested that more thought is needed to determine if a lifeboat is necessary – whether the casualty can take themselves to hospital for example.

iii. The vigilance on Class V vessels was praised in that they spot people in difficulties.

d. London River Services

i. LRS are implementing the Mayor’s River Action Plan and progressing well. ii. The Summer was very successful, with a 25% increase May-September on

last year. iii. Plans to extend Westminster, Embankment and Bankside Piers. iv. 3rd Woolwich Ferry is on it’s way back from refit in Hull.

e. Fire

i. There was no representative from the LFB and no update given

f. Environment Agency ii. Andy Batchelor gave a presentation on Thames Barrier closures occurring in

the beginning of 2014.

g. Port Health i. There was no representative from the Port Health and no update given

6. River Works

a. Battersea Rail Bridge i. Arches 1, 4 and 5 will remain closed to navigation until April ’15, following

which arch 2 will be closed for 3 to 4 months.

b. Chiswick Bridge i. Centre arch opening today (13th November).

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ii. Further short term closures are expected, to remove scaffolding.

c. Charing Cross Rail Bridge i. Various arch closures are to be expected in early 2015 for repair works.

d. Battersea Power Station

i. The cranes are being dismantled and taken to Tilbury for refit. ii. It is expected that the spoil form the Northern Line Extension will come out at

Battersea Power Station.

e. Cross Rail i. It is expected that 6000T of spoil a day will be removed from Instone Wharf

until March 2015.

f. Baynard House i. Further works are planned to relocate the Baynard House outfall further into

the channel, expected to be complete by July 2015. ii. No. 2 arch is expected to be closed for part of the relocation works, but will

open where possible. g. Fulham FC

i. The Boards decision to approve the River Works Licence for Fulham Football Club was not a simple decision to make. The Board of the PLA was very mindful that the Thames is a hugely valued public space, shared by the whole community, and reached its decision only after careful consideration taking account of a wide range of representations from interested parties as well as external expert advice.

ii. The works intend to extend 11m into the river iii. Materials for the construction being transported by river, providing

benefits for commercial operations.

h. Thames Tideway Tunnel (Post-Meeting Note) i. For separate parties have all launched judicial review proceedings against

the DCO decision from Secretaries of State. These are not issues against Thames Water. It remains as business as usual within the TTT project team.

ii. Main contractor awards and Infrastructure Provider awards expected summer 2015.

iii. Note approximately 30% of the design has been done for the DCO, the remaining 70% will be done by the main contractors as a design and build contract. Hence meaningful method statements on which to base detailed navigation risk assessments remain to be done. Although the NRA should have an input to the design and methodology used. Very much a chicken and egg situation.

iv. Tug simulator validation procurement process started during October and will involve going to EU wide tender because of the value of the 7 year contract.

v. PLA has now responded to the first of 3 pre application submissions for preparatory works by Arup on three projects, relocation of HMS President 1918, Tattershall Castle and installation of the new Blackfriars Pier. Actual river works not scheduled to begin until Sept 2015.

vi. TTT discussions are on-going with Chas Newens for the relocation of his moorings to facilitate the construction of the temporary Drawdock at Putney. Planned start of works is November 2017.

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i. Garden Bridge i. Lambeth have approved the planning, however Westminster are holding,

(potential impact on Temple Tube Station, causing it to close for 6 months) 7. Commercial Vessels

a. General Directions – GD9 i. The Harbour Service Launch is carrying out inspections of the stern markings

on Class V vessels, forwarding photos on to HMU. ii. Some operators are not fully complying with the requirements. iii. Contact should be made with the PLA where the requirements cannot be met,

to come to a mutual compromise.

b. Slow Steaming of vessels in Central London i. HMU offered this topic to the forum for discussion. ii. Recently, incidents have occurred which involved slow steaming vessels

through bridge arches. iii. It was suggested that with effective communication and lookout, this shouldn’t

be an issue. iv. The consensus of the forum was that a ‘minimum speed limit’ would not be a

good idea. v. With the issue of noise pollution, party boats tend to move quicker, so as not

to disrupt residents. vi. HMU are to consider issuing advice that vessels should not slow steam

through bridge arches, and to keep out of the fairway whenever practicable.

8. Events a. Review of events from 2014

i. DHMU2 thanked the forum for their support during 2014 events. ii. There was a lot of interest in the Tall Ships, with 50 berthed vessels in the

Port, and the Parade of Sail was very successful and well supported. iii. Great River Race saw 300 vessels on the river, and was a good conclusion to

the Thames Festival. iv. Lord Mayor’s Show and fireworks was successful. It was noted that a

passenger vessel was alongside loading passengers when the river was closed to navigation. Masters are reminded to plan to be out of the closure area well in advance of the closure time.

b. Forthcoming events for 2014

i. New Years Eve will be a ticketed event, and this may lead to more people on the river.

ii. The University Boat Race will be extended over the weekend to include the Women’s race.

iii. Doggets is set for 1st August. iv. Great River Race is set for 12th September, with in excess of 350 vessels

expected to take part.

c. Date of Next Meeting i. Thursday 30th April 2015, Watermen’s Hall

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Appendix 1

INCIDENT REVIEW 1

st APRIL 2014 TO 31

st OCTOBER 2014

There have been 104 reported incidents since the last review of incidents at the RUCF meeting in April 2014. This shows a significant decrease in incident numbers over the same period in 2013. The graph below demonstrates the relationship between incident numbers and trade within the port. Port trade data is provided by LRS for passenger numbers and the PLA for IW freight traffic.

Monthly Incident Numbers

MAN OVERBOARD - 7 (1) There have been a number of man overboard incidents occurring in the last six months. 3 from Class V vessels, one from a small workboat and the others are related to rowing and kayaking, all persons were recovered from the water. WASH COMPLAINTS - 11 (3) A number of wash complaints have arisen over the last period from a variety of sources.

0.000

0.005

0.010

0.015

0.020

0.025

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014(EstimatedPax Figuredue to LRSchange inreporting)

Overview of Incidents Numbers in relation to Port Trade

Incidents per 1000 passengers

Incidents per 1000 tonnes of IWFreight

2012

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total

12 8 15 14 13 14 34 35 25 11 17 6 204

2013

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total

13 11 7 14 23 22 34 26 12 13 8 13 196

2014

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Total

9 4 7 15 14 18 17 22 18

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There continues to be a number of wash complaints from houseboat owners along the river (not reported in the above figures); these continue to be investigated with the majority being unsubstantiated and found to be of a disturbance in nature rather than any physical damage. These issues continue to be addressed with a view to reducing complaints in the future. CONTACTS - 10 (18) The number of incidents involving contacts has reduced over the last six months. A couple of these are attributed to rowing and most have involved recreational users, with only a couple of commercial operators having erred. Of particular note was a narrow boat that ended up athwart Dove Pier, following the investigation into this incident the PLA have undertaken a larger piece of work to understand better the amount of commercial activities being undertaken by narrow boat hire companies. This incident also led to the promulgation a safety bulletin No4 2014. COLLISIONS AND NEAR MISS COLLISIONS - 12 (7) There have been 3 collisions and 9 reports of near miss collisions over the last 6 months all of which have been investigated. Of the recorded collisions one was serious in nature and involved a Class V passenger vessel and a Tug and Tow, we expect the final MAIB report in due course. Most near miss reports are generally due to masters failing to maintain a good lookout and have involved a number of differing vessels over the last 6 months. We were pleased to note an increase in near miss reporting in the last 6 months and continue to encourage operators to report near misses as required. GROUNDINGS - 3 (1) Three groundings over this period and all were in the upper part of the river above Putney. FIRE / EXPLOSION – 3 (2) Three reports of fire aboard vessels, all minor during this period. MECHANICAL FAILURE - 18 (14) There continues to be a significant number of mechanical failures on commercial vessels in the Upper district with 7 (a reduction from the last period) of the incidents recorded occurring on Class V vessels. These incidents range from steering failures to engine problems and fortunately they did not result in any further collision or contacts. We would encourage Class V operators to ensure regular checks of their vessel’s mechanical systems are conducted as well as ensuring they have an effective maintenance regime. BREACH OF BYELAWS & GENERAL DIRECTIONS – 7 (8) There were 7 breaches of PLA Byelaws & General Directions in the last six months and, of these incidents 6 related to a breach of the PLA’s speed limit byelaw. The PLA continues to consider options to raise awareness of the speed limits through central London, especially to the recreational community, to improve this situation and to try to reduce these incidents further in 2014. The remaining two breaches involved a vessel navigating within an exclusion zone and a commercial vessel operating above Margaretness without the Master holding a valid PLA Local Knowledge Endorsement.

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Cause Analysis The breakdown of incident causes in the PLA’s Upper District (Margaretness – Teddington) is displayed in the chart below.

Safety Bulletins During the last period the PLA has issued two Safety Bulletins following incident investigations:

- No.3 of 2014 – Danger of Inadequate Simple Maintenance Checks - No.4 of 2014 – Taking Account of Tidal Sets

As always we welcome and fully encourage the reporting of incidents. As can be seen they are all closely analysed from which we determine the focus our attention and where changes need to be made to assist in preventing their reoccurrence and thus improving safety on the river.

26%

29% 5%

20%

20%

Incident Causes April - September 2014

Breach of Byelaws / GeneralDirections/Colregs

Machinery Breakdown/Failure

Failure to keep a properlookout

Misjudgement

Other

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Appendix 2

FUTURE EVENTS ON THE RIVER NOVEMBER 2014 – APRIL 2015 NOVEMBER

1st Fours HORR Kew Railway Bridge to Fulham Rail Bridge

08:45 to 12:15

U19/2014

2nd Veterans’ Fours HORR Kew Railway Bridge to Fulham Rail Bridge

10:00 to 13:30

U19/2014

6th Wingfield Sculls Putney Bridge to Chiswick Bridge

10:45 to 12:45

U18/2014 & M40/2014

8th Lord Mayor’s Show Westminster Boating Base to HMS President

08:30 to 09:30

U18/2014 & M40/2014

8th Lord Mayor’s Show Fireworks

Blackfriars Rail Bridge to Waterloo Bridge

tbc tbc

12th Thames Barrier Closure Blackwall Point to Margaretness

09:35 to 12:05

12/2014

23rd Novice Winter Regatta Chiswick Bridge to Kew Railway Bridge

09:30 to 15:30

U18/2014 & M40/2014

29th Vesta Scullers HORR Kew Railway Bridge to Fulham Rail Bridge

08:30 to 12:00

U19/2014

30th Allom Cup Chiswick Bridge to Kew Railway Bridge

09:00 to 15:30

U18/2014 & M40/2014

DECEMBER

7th Barking and Dagenham Canoe Club Event

Barking Creek 12:45 to 15:15

U18/2014 & M40/2014

9th Trial 8’s - Women Putney Bridge to Chiswick Bridge

13:30 to 16:00

U18/2014 & M40/2014

10th Trial 8’s - Men Putney Bridge to Chiswick Bridge

13:50 to 16:20

U18/2014 & M40/2014

11th Thames Barrier Closure Blackwall Point to Margaretness

09:20 to 11:50

12/2014

13th Remenham Challenge Chiswick Pier to Putney Bridge

10:00 to 11:00

U18/2014 & M40/2014

31st New Year’s Eve Fireworks

Hungerford Bridge to Westminster Bridge

tbc tbc

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JANUARY

12th Thames Barrier Closure Blackwall Reach to Margaretness

10:35 to 13:05

12/2014

25th United Hospitals Winter Regatta

Chiswick Bridge to Kew Railway Bridge

09:00 to 16:00

U18/2014 & M40/2014

31st Quintin Eights HORR Chiswick Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge

13:45 to 16:15

U19/2014

FEBURARY

9th Thames Barrier Closure Blackwall Point to Margaretness

09:40 to 12:10

12/2014

15th Boustead Cup Mortlake to Putney Bridge

12:00 to 13:00

U18/2014 & M40/2014

15th Dewar Shield Head Chiswick Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge

13:00 to 15:00

U18/2014 & M40/2014

22nd Greenwich HORR Wapping Pier to PBDRC

09:30 to 12:00

U18/2014 & M40/2014

28th UH Head Race Syon Pavilion to Chiswick Bridge

13:00 to 17:00

U18/2014 & M40/2014

MARCH

1st Hammersmith HORR Chiswick Bridge to Hammersmith Bridge

11:30 to 15:00

U19/2014

11th Thames Barrier Closure Blackwall Point to Margaretness

09:40 to 12:10

12/2014

14th Women’s HORR Kew Railway Bridge to Fulham Rail Bridge

08:30 to 12:00

U19/2014

16th Schools HORR Kew Railway Bridge to Fulham Rail Bridge

12:00 to 15:30

U19/2014

28th Vesta Veterans’ HORR Kew Railway Bridge to Fulham Rail Bridge

10:00 to 13:30

U19/2014

29th HORR Kew Railway 11:00 to U19/2014

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Bridge to Fulham Rail Bridge

14:30

APRIL

5th – 6th

Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race

Teddington Lock to Westminster

04:00 to 22:00

U18/2014 & M40/2014

5th Thames Barrier Closure Blackwall Point to Margaretness

09:25 to 11:55

12/2014

12th Oxbridge Watermen’s Challenge

Dove Pier to Chiswick Bridge

tbc U18/2014 & M40/2014

12th The BNY Mellon Boat Race

Fulham Rail Bridge to Kew Railway Bridge

tbc tbc