Docks investment ignores waterways
YOUR article about a Chinese contractor investing heavily in the Royal Albert Docks project [May seals £5 billion of investment, November 10] doesn’t mention that important Thames facilities are being sacrificed for it.
There was a grand launch with promises by the Greater London Authority for provision of a much needed boatyard, re-establishment of a marine skills and education centre in the vacated Thames House and an extended marina. It now seems that all of these essential facilities will be lost, as this is the only site left on the Thames in London for such marine facilities.
Expensive flats do not need to be waterside, except to boost the developer’s profits by 25 per cent. Financial dealings are a sign of short-termism but it is the long-term future of the Thames, and the active use of London’s waterways, that should be considered.
We need to bring our waterways back to life, even though they are being degraded by excessive property development.