RESIDENTS OPPOSE NEW WHARF IN GREENWICH

Posted on 04/01/2016 | About Greenwich, United Kingdom

Plans for a new wharf on the Thames are being opposed by resident groups, who are launching court action against Greenwich council.  Membership in the EU requires adherence to hourly limits for nitrogen dioxide pollution, which causes thousands of respiratory deaths every year and  London had breached its annual pollution limit one week into 2016.

Last summer, Greenwich council approved a wharf that could handle cruise liners that accommodate up to 1,800 passengers and 600 crew. The plan for the wharf suggests that annually, 55 cruise ships can spend up to three days at port in Greenwich. 

That figure suggests they will burn about 700 litres of diesel an hour for six months of the year. Environmental consultants estimate that to be the equivalent of 688 trucks permanently running their engines at Enderby Wharf in Greenwich. Larger ships would emit as many diesel fumes as 2,000 trucks a day.

Residents claim that there had been “inadequate assessment of the air pollution” and want the terminal to supply onshore power supply for the ships to allow the vessels to cut the engines while berthed.

“The alternative is to supply clean onshore power to the cruise vessels rather than running filthy diesel engines. Yet the current planning permission does not require a cleaner operation. Nor has a health feasibility study been undertaken,” said a spokesman for East Greenwich Residents Association.

The developers have responded, saying that supplying electrical power is not “commercially viable” in that many cruise liners are not equipped to use it. According to Royal Caribbean, only six out of the 490 ports that their ships visit have shore power.