Safeguarded Wharves Review

Our Planning Committee has responded to the Mayor's Safeguarded Wharves Review, in which the Mayor recommended the release of nine wharves in London, considered surplus to the capital's needs.

Wharves play an important role in the London's industrial sectors, and will become even more important with the emergence of green industries based on the use and reuse of waste. However, the housing crisis and relatively low land value of wharves means there is huge pressure on them, which is why the role planning can play in safeguarding them is so important.

At one point London had around 1,700 operating wharves, now only 50 remain. The Mayor has a statutory duty to have regard to the desirability of promoting and encouraging the use of the River Thames, in particular for the provision of passenger transport services and for the transportation of freight. His Review recommended the release of nine wharves.

Following a meeting in October 2012, the Committee submitted its view to Mayor Boris Johnson, setting out how the Review underestimates the future need for these sites within London. Read the letter, below.

On 27 March 2013, the Committee received a response from the Mayor - published below.

On 4 April 2013, our Planning Committee Chair wrote to Rt Hon Eric Pickles MP to bring to his attention the potential negative impacts on the environment and economy of the Mayor’s proposals to remove protection from some of London’s remaining riverside wharves. See the letter, below.