City to Sea - Thames Estuary Partnership

Potential Basildon
for ‘Dark Green’ path
section at Fobbing Marsh
Potential for sensitive design of
bridge at London Riverside
Conservation Park - ‘Dark Green’
path section
Barking Creek Flood Barrier
River Thames
Wat Tyler
Country Park
Coalhouse Fort
Basildon
Hadleigh Castle
"Grey" path section (indicative route) -
Pitsea
Predominantly urban riverside character
Fobbing Marshes with Coryton
and Shellhaven beyond
South
Benfleet
Wat Tyler
Country
Park
Hadleigh
"Dark Green" path section (indicative route) -
CASTLE POINT
"Light Green" path section (indicative route) -
Leigh-on-Sea
Southchurch
Chalkwell
Barking Reach
Hadleigh Marsh
Grays Beach - potential set back
of flood defence incorporating
improved access and full views
of the Thames - ‘Light Green’
path section
Rainham Marshes
Mucking Marshes
Landmark
Major landmark (existing and proposed)
Fobbing
Canvey
Island
Dagenham
Visitor attraction
Corringham
Barking
Wider urban riverside character of mixed
industrial and residential uses with pockets
of managed greenspaces
Cambridge
Town
Fobbing
Marshes
Thurrock
Shoeburyness
Thorpe Bay
Clifftown
BARKING & DAGENHAM
Thames Barrier Park
Protected nature areas, Country Parks and
predominantly vegetated riverside edge or
marsh area
SOUTHEND-ON-SEA
HAVERING
Potential for visually exciting
bridge design in urban situation ‘Grey’ path section
Admiralty Boom, Shoeburyness
Southend Pier
NEWHAM
South
Bromley
Rainham
Creekmouth
Lea
Valley
ER
LETS
Canning
Town
Beckton
Existing strategic link
THURROCK
Rainham
Marshes
Thamesmead
Poplar
Potential bridging opportunity
Shell Haven
(London Gateway)
Stanford-le-Hope
Silvertown
Erith
Marshes
Cuckolds
Point
Wennington
Marshes
Proctor and Gamble Factory
Mucking
Marshes
Tilbury Fort viewing platform
Canvey Island
Photograph courtesy of Sustrans
Potential revitalisation of Canvey
Island’s flood wall - ‘Light Green’
path section
Proposed strategic link
Existing Thames Crossing
Isle of Dogs
New
Charlton
Woolwich
Purfleet
West Thurrock
South
Stifford
Erith
Greenwich
Deptford
GREENWICH
Crayford
Marshes
Dartford
Marshes
Proposed Thames Crossing
Cliffe
Marshes
East Tilbury
Grays
Allhallows-on-Sea
Cooling
Marshes
West Thurrock
Marshes
Tilbury Docks
Tilbury
West
Tilbury
Marshes
Grain
Cliffe
East Tilbury
Marshes
Isle of Grain
Hoo Peninsula
Swanscombe
Peninsula
BEXLEY
LEWISHAM
Stone
East London Sewage Incinerator
Borough boundaries
Shorne
Marshes
Northfleet
MEDWAY
Potential circular horse riding
route to link up with City to Sea
Gravesend
Thames Flood Barrier
The route alignment and associated
developments are conceptual and do
not represent formal proposals or recommendations
DARTFORD
Woolwich Royal Arsenal
Darent Flood Barrier at Dartford
Marshes
Queen Elizabeth II Bridge from
Ingress Park
N
0
1
2km
Mainline station
Existing/proposed DLR station
Highham
Marshes
Swanscombe
Tube station
Allhallows
Cliffe Marsh - potential for sensitive design of bridges and viewing platform - ‘Dark Green’ path
section
Gordon Promenade, Gravesham
GRAVESHAM
Cliffe Marshes (photo courtesy of
Medway Council)
Allhallows-on-Sea
Thames Path City to Sea
One of the World s Great Journeys
High Quality Planning and Design
Making It Happen
The Thames Estuary offers a dynamic setting for a long distance
path which includes landmark engineering structures straddling
the river, to expansive internationally renowned marshes teeming
with wildlife. The challenges and opportunities that might
influence the potential route alignment and design are discussed
in the Thames Path City to Sea Technical Report and cover:
In order for the Vision to be turned into reality Thames Path City
to Sea aims to respond to the needs and aspirations of all who
have an interest in the Thames Estuary. The Thames Estuary
Partnership has a key role to play and will involve all
stakeholders in an over-arching partnership, to:
Route conditions and land ownership; biodiversity;
accessibility; access controls; physical access standards;
cycling; horse riding; new developments; landscape
character; visitor attractions; historic environment;
variety of experience; strategic links; flood risk
management and opportunities for the Arts.
Thames Path City to Sea would provide a high quality,
sensitively planned and well designed route which meets
the needs of users and fosters harmony between commercial
activities along the Thames, valuable nature conservation, heritage,
recreation and landscape resource of the estuary. The Technical
Report outlines guidance on:
• a route, reflecting local character and respecting the
needs of nature
If a safari through suburbia doesn't sound inspiring, think again.
Few places on Earth can match this journey. On foot or by bike
you can travel easily from the inner city's stylish high-rise hub of
world trade to the windswept wilds of the Kent and Essex coasts.
The Thames Estuary has a human history second to none, but its
natural history is extraordinary too. In the past thirty years the
tidal Thames ecosystem has improved remarkably and yet the rich
variety of the Estuary's wildlife is still a well kept secret.
• embed City to Sea in regional strategies and
investment frameworks
• embed City to Sea in Area Development and Local
Development Frameworks
Occasionally a spectacular species will surface to surprise the
outer Estuary: seals, porpoises and even seahorses do turn up
from time to time. However, the true magic of the tidal Thames
is best enjoyed by taking time to walk or cycle its entire length.
For those who can spare an energetic week or more, this could
be the journey of a lifetime. Starting in North Kent's grazing
marshes, accompanied by the wonderful sound of thousands of
wild geese, you can travel all along the south shore to Tower
Bridge, and then return on the northern bank to Southend and
the muddy creeks of coastal Essex.
• ensure allocation of capital and revenue funds to
support the over-arching Partnership, and to fund
capital and long term maintenance works, and
• work with communities and the voluntary sector to
promote use of the Path.
Community Involvement
The immediate impact and continuing success of Thames Path City
to Sea will be determined in part by support from local people.
Local participation will be vital.
• a sound, hardwearing, well designed, safe path for all
users
Conclusion
• the use of sustainable construction materials and
techniques and
There is no doubt that Thames Path: City to Sea can become 'one
of the world's great journeys'. The Thames Estuary Partnership
believes it has the potential to:
• a legible, well-signposted and continuous route.
From the City to the Sea… one of the world's
great journeys, close to home for millions of people
the Thames estuary
is our estuary
Perhaps more realistically, this is also a convenient landscape to
explore in bite-sized chunks. The Thames Estuary Partnership has
made it easy to see the wealth of possibilities. Access by public
transport is relatively easy, and by visiting different places in
different seasons the true splendour of the river and its
surrounding landscape can be appreciated to the full.
working together
for the best future for our estuary
• highlight what is great and innovative about the
Thames Gateway;
Every one of us would benefit from access to a little more wild
nature in our lives. The Thames Estuary offers enormous choice,
from sophisticated riverside dining in the city in the company of
fishing cormorants, to the exhilaration of a day in coastal
landscapes which are as close to wilderness as any in England.
The tidal Thames is waiting and we owe it to ourselves to find
the time to take a closer look. Now, thanks to the Thames
Estuary Partnership and its new initiative - City to Sea, this
wonderful wildlife experience need no longer be a best kept
secret.
• build the capacity of existing and new communities;
• achieve a core part of the Government's 'Greening the
Gateway' Strategy and its Sustainable Communities
Plan;
• fulfil the multi-functional objectives of health,
education, biodiversity, flood-risk management, leisure,
recreation, etc.; and
Thames Path: City to Sea is a new, exciting initiative being
pioneered by the Thames Estuary Partnership - a neutral non-forprofit organisation working to ensure a sustainable future for the
Thames Estuary. Working in partnership, Thames Path: City to Sea
provides a vision for a continuous coastal trail from 'City to Sea'.
The Vision
To provide a continuous and attractive, shared access
riverside route from the Thames Barrier to the outer
reaches on both sides of the Thames Estuary.
'Thames Path: City to Sea - One of the World's Great Journeys'
presents the main findings of a Technical Report developed by the
Thames Estuary Partnership in consultation with key
stakeholders. The range of opportunities and possibilities
illustrated aims to inspire landowners, local authorities,
developers and stakeholders to consider how they might turn the
Vision into a reality.
The route alignment, designs and associated developments illustrated
are conceptual and do not represent formal proposals or
recommendations.
Why City to Sea?
The Thames Estuary is in a time of very rapid and potentially
significant change. With increasing development pressures
throughout the Thames Gateway, Thames Path: City to Sea provides
a unique opportunity to secure and enhance long-term riverside
access for the millions of people who live, work and play
throughout the Thames Estuary.
The growing success of the Thames Path National Trail, which
currently follows the River Thames from its source to the Thames
Barrier, is testament to the remarkable popularity of long distance
riverside paths. An eastward continuation of this Path would
build upon its success, creating unbroken route from 'Source to
Sea'.
Past initiatives have resulted in a number of open sections east of
the Barrier. However, they are fragmented and vary greatly in
levels of accessibility and quality. A continuously linked route
from City to Sea would help unite these initiatives, creating a focus
for ever greater access.
• provide a good investment that will be repaid through
the pleasure that people will derive from it and the
taxes they will be prepared to pay for it.
Thames Path: City to Sea continues to gain support and is now
advocated by many organisations including Sustrans,Transport for
London and the Environment Agency.
How to Get Involved
To find out more or to receive a copy of the City to Sea Technical
Report, please contact the Thames Estuary Partnership Office:
Thames Estuary Partnership
University College London
Remax House
31/32 Alfred Place
London WC1E 7DP
Telephone: 0207 679 5299
Fax: 0207 916 8546
Email: tep@thamesweb.com
What is City to Sea?
A Path from City to Sea would traverse the entire Thames
Gateway, a region identified as a national Government priority for
regeneration. The Vision is compatible with the challenges set by
the Government's flagship publication: Creating sustainable
Communities: Greening the Gateway, and its construction will make
a positive contribution to a number of emerging innovative,
multifunctional 'environmental infrastructure' plans within
the Thames Gateway including: Thames Strategy East; East
London, Kent Thameside and South Essex Green Grids;
The Green Arc and North Kent Regional Park.
Thames Estuary Partnership
CHRIS BAINES
President
Thames Estuary Partnership
Department of Geography
UCL (University College London)
Remax House
31/32 Alfred Place
London WC1E 7DP
tel: 020 7679 5299
fax: 020 7916 8546
email: tep@thamesweb.com
web: www.thamesweb.com
The Thames Estuary Partnership is a
Registered Charity (1083199) and a
Company Limited by Guarantee (3807387).
Thames Path City to Sea
One of the World's Great Journeys