Before any dredging work is undertaken on the tidal Thames it is a statutory requirement that a licence for such works is granted under Section 73 of the Port of London Act 1968 (as amended). Section 73 relates to the control of dredging works. Dredging works are defined as including any operation to cleanse, scour, cut, deepen, widen, dredge or take up or remove material from the bed and banks of the Thames. Bed levelling, ploughing and hydrodynamic dredging fall within this definition.
The legal basis of the PLA’s powers (within its limits) is such that, once licensed by the PLA, such dredging operations are exempted from the need to obtain a separate consent under Section 34 of The Coast Protection Act 1949.
Landowner consent will be required before dredging is undertaken. For much of the tidal Thames the PLA is the landowner, although there are several areas where the landowner is the Crown Estate.
Whilst the PLA Licence covers all forms of dredging, in any situation other than the application of hydrodynamic techniques, an additional licence for the disposal of the material will be required. With respect to the latter it is usual practice for the material to be disposed of to an existing licensed land-based site or alternatively to sea. In the case of sea disposal, a licence is required under Section 5 of the Food and Environment Protection Act (FEPA) 1985 which is administered by Defra’s Marine and Fisheries Agency (MFA) (opens in a new window).
TopThe initial contact in respect of an application to undertake dredging should be made formally through the PLA’s River Works Licensing Department (telephone: 01474 562267) who will issue Form 215: Application to undertake dredging in the Thames.
An application fee is payable, dependent on the location and scale of the dredge, and comprises a fee to cover the cost of the administrative processing of the application. Details of the fee payable can be obtained from the River Works Licensing Department. The appropriate application fee should be submitted together with the completed application form.
Before an application for a dredging licence can be considered, the PLA will require the applicant to submit the following information to enable both the completion of an assessment of the licence and the undertaking of an environmental review:
Further technical information on the above can be found in Guidance Note 2 and Guidance Note 3.
The review of an application will require consideration of possible water quality, fisheries, archaeology, recreation, local community, navigation issues and in combination effects. Applicants may be requested to provide information on some or all of these characteristics (refer to Guidance Note 3 for further details).
A minimum period of three months is required to process applications, to enable the necessary environmental consultations required by the Maintenance Dredging Framework to be undertaken and to allow the subsequent grant of licences by the Licensing Committee of the PLA Board. Only in exceptional circumstances can the timescale for processing be reduced; in this case an additional charge to cover increased costs will be imposed on the applicant. Licence applicants should be aware that in some circumstances separate statutory timescales may apply, which are outside of the PLA’s control, i.e. the application of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (CRoW) 2000 (refer to Guidance Note 3).
Dredging licence applications are subject to consultation between relevant PLA officers on navigation, river regime and environment. Further, where considered necessary under the terms of the PLA’s Maintenance Dredging Framework, consultation may also be undertaken with other bodies such as English Nature, the Environment Agency and Kent & Essex Sea Fisheries Committee. Consultation is often carried out via the regular meetings of the Dredging Liaison Group (a stakeholder group facilitated by the Thames Estuary Partnership).
If the completion of the environmental assessment and consultation identify potentially significant environmental impacts, the PLA may require further, more detailed investigations to be undertaken. In such circumstances, prior to the completion of the necessary reports (which may take time to prepare) applicants must not assume that a dredging licence will be issued. Berth owners and operators are therefore advised that it would be prudent to give careful consideration to the need to obtain any relevant environmental information well in advance of submitting an application.
Should the environmental assessment of an individual licence application identify specific concerns, the PLA will consider the use of conditions on the licence to place constraints or monitoring requirements on the operation. Some examples of existing constraints on maintenance dredging activities are given below:
The conditions that form part of the licence will be monitored by the PLA to ensure compliance. The PLA’s Harbour Service Launch may monitor ongoing dredging operations and visits may be made to view dredging operations by the PLA’s River Engineering and Environment Team. Dredging will be subject to being stopped if licence conditions are not complied with.
In addition to any specific conditions for particular licences there are a set of standard conditions applicable to most dredging licences:
| 1. | To ensure that the Licensee’s contractor undertaking the dredging operations completes and returns the Form A ‘Contractor’s Acknowledgement’ to the |
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| 2.1 | To inform the PLA’s River Regime and Environment Department in writing of the dredging commencement date at least 5 working days in advance of each separate dredging operation carried out under this Licence commencing. | |||
| 2.2 | To inform the |
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| 3. | To supply to the PLA at least 5 days prior to the dredging commencement date a method statement to be approved by the PLA prior to dredging commencing setting out how the dredging is to be undertaken for each separate dredging operation. | |||
| 4. | To carry out the dredging to the PLA's satisfaction and in accordance with the method statement approved by the PLA. | |||
| 5. | To comply with the requirements of the PLA's harbourmaster as to the mooring placing marking and working of vessels used in connection with dredging. | |||
| 6.1 | To undertake in compliance with the attached specification Appendix 1 and in respect of each separate dredging operation pre-dredge surveys and post-dredge surveys no later than one week after the dredging operation has been completed. | |||
| 6.2 | To provide the PLA with the results of all surveys undertaken prior to and on completion of dredging operations and to permit the PLA to freely use those results as it thinks fit (including by publication either on their own or combined with other data) for the purposes of promoting safety of navigation. | |||
| 6.3 | If the Licensee does not undertake pre-dredge and post-dredge surveys in accordance with the paragraphs 6.1 and 6.2 above the PLA may at its option undertake the pre-dredge and post-dredge surveys and recover from the Licensee on demand any reasonable expenses incurred by the PLA in so doing. | |||
| 7. | To permit the PLA to freely use the environmental information already provided and any subsequently provided in connection with the dredging operation carried out under this dredging licence as it thinks fit (including any publication either on its own or combined with other information). | |||
| 8. | To indemnify the PLA against all actions proceedings claims demands damages costs expenses and losses arising out of the dredging or the grant of this Licence. | |||
| 9. |
To issue a Notice to Mariners prior to the commencement of any works [this is formally issued by the PLA harbourmaster and requires, on average, three weeks notice for publication]. |
The PLA may vary or revoke a licence if:
Currently, licences are granted either on a ‘one-off’ basis or an annual basis. The PLA may grant a longer term licence (three years) in areas where routine maintenance dredging has been ongoing for a number of years and where no adverse impacts have been observed. Provision is made in such longer term licences for further assessments to be made should there be any change to the dredging technique or quantity of material to be dredged or indeed any other significant change to methodology or circumstances.
Once berth owners and operators have been through the procedure outlined above and a review has been completed for a particular dredging location, much of the information collected is likely to remain relevant for subsequent dredging licence applications at the same site. However, it is likely that a thorough review will need to be undertaken at each renewal application.
It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure that licences are kept up to date. Undertaking dredging works without a valid licence is a criminal offence.