'Empty and Soulless' Embankment Slammed by Councillor
Mark Justin makes comments at meeting to discuss Putney Pier applications
The current pier at Putney. Picture: George Rex
March 23, 2023
The River Thames in the borough has been slammed as “empty, soulless” and “underused” by a councillor who claims the capital’s flagship waterway is in need of more piers and fast. Conservative Mark Justin who represents Nine Elms, speaking at a Wandsworth Council planning meeting on Tuesday (21 March), raised concerns about the lack of traffic on the river.
Discussing the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race on 26 March, he said, “The world will be watching Putney this weekend on the Sunday. There won’t be a single vantage point accessible between 4pm and 5pm – the river itself will be full of a flotilla of boats all following the University Boat Race and the world will think: ‘Wow isn’t the Thames busy.’
“But on Monday it will revert to be an empty, soulless, underused river that it sadly is. We actually need more piers and bigger piers.”
His comments came after plans were debated to extend Putney Pier. Boat Company Livett’s Launches had applied (2022/1280) to build a 74-metre extension and upgrade what is there already.
The existing section of the pier was planned to be used as a dedicated berth for river bus services. There would also be an extra berth for other passenger vessels and light freight, and further berths for visitor moorings.
Speaking about the plans, Cllr Justin said, “This proposal is flawed and we all know that but it’s a shame that we can’t send it back and get a better proposal because I wouldn’t like to go down in history as someone who stopped the Thames and piers.”
Councillor Justin added the Thames is about to enter into a “golden era” when the Super Sewer is completed. He said the “water quality will improve and we’ll wish there were more piers”.
Council officers had recommended refusal, with a report concluding the extension would “overwhelm the current pier” and “harm views of the river” despite the benefits of expanding future services and investing in the existing pier. A statement with the application said, “The proposal would be visually insignificant and in context. It would neither weaken nor block important views or the settings of heritage assets.”
The application also received 248 objections which are summarised in a council report. Comments included concerns the proposal would “make the waterway more congested, polluted and obstruct various river sports”, “destroy sporting communities that use this stretch of the river” and “interfere with the view currently possible of the start of the Boat Race”.
The application for a pier extension was later rejected by Wandsworth Council’s planning committee.
Elen Richards, team manager in planning and transport at the council, said, “A lot of works would be required on the existing pier to bring it up to standard, especially in terms of accessibility and the gradient of the bridge. Further extension of Putney Pier, therefore, hasn’t been demonstrated as being justified in terms of demand for use, for freight and so on.”
A ramp would lead down to the pontoon in the Thames Clipper proposal
The council has given its approval to an application (2022/2916) by Thames Clippers for a new pier for the
river bus service including two dolphin piles, a fixed bridge and pontoon. The bridge will be integrated into the Thames
Tideway Structure.
Charlotte Lillywhite - Local Democracy Reporter
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |