Simon Hughes, the Liberal Democrat mayoral candidate who chairs the annual Thames Festival, said he had good relations with the PLA. If you look at the Danube or the Seine, our river is nothing like that. He said: 'They are very secretive and conspiratorial and have not really been able to develop the river as an amenity. He said: 'The Greater London authority is the democratically elected authority for London and we should have control of the river.'Īustin Mitchell MP has been trying to assist a vessel owner in dispute with the river authorities. There is no clear accountability and there is no independent checking of whether they are providing good value for money.'ĭarren Johnson, an assembly member and the Green party mayoral candidate, said many people were angry about the relentless march of riverside development and the closure of sections of foreshore. Valerie Shawcross, a senior Labour assembly member, said: 'The PLA is not directly answerable to the public and the elected members of London. But assembly members are concerned that there is little scope for the public or elected politicians to decide how the river is run. The most important organisation for the river's 68-mile tidal stretch is the Port of London Authority (PLA), created by the government in 1909. Members of the London assembly are to launch an investigation into the management of the river to address growing concern that the regulations used to control leisure, trade and development along the water are arcane and undemocratic.

But behind the peaceful scenes, there is political turmoil.

Kelir ownes river