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 Page 1 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 Page 2 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 [email protected] 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 Page 3 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 [email protected] 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.