We are back in person for the 2023 AGM, which will take place on Monday 23 October at 7pm in the Blue Print Cafe, Shad Thames.  We also hope to stream this event.

More details to follow.

An historic new night-time landmark will become visible in the coming weeks just a short distance down the riverbank from Tower Bridge and Butler’s Wharf. After multiple delays caused by the Covid shutdown, the ‘Rotherhithe Illuminated’ project to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower in 1620 is finally to get under way.

This will see the spire of St Mary’s Church, clock faces and the Memorial to the Mayflower’s Master Christopher Jones, who lived and died in Rotherhithe, illuminated for all to see from dusk every night. The lighting project provides a permanent reminder of the legacy of the Mayflower which sailed the Pilgrim Fathers from Rotherhithe to the New World.

Funding for the scheme, which was first muted in 2017, has been provided by a wide range of individuals and organisations, including a donation from STRA along with the US Embassy, the Greater London Authority and the Port of London Authority. If you would like to help support this effort, you can donate here: Rotherhithe Illuminated!

A photoshop image of the soon-to-be-illuminated St Mary’s Church

16 January 2023

A major overnight film production will be shooting on Butler's Wharf overnight on 17/18 January. 

This will require the suspension of multiple parking bays throughout Shad Thames begin at midnight Monday, 16 January. 

The production company is offering to assist residents who require alternate parking. You can contact the location managers directly should you need their help to obtain parking or with any other shoot-related issues:

Flora Kinch-Waugh (day time)

Assistant Location Manager

+44 (0) 7791 078 934

David Powell (night time)

Location Manager

+44 (0) 7743 428 191

And should you need to, you can also ring FilmFixer's 24-hour emergency line: +44 (0) 7919 002 115.

For more information about the shoot, please see the letter which was distributed by the production company: 

This event is a 10 mile fundraising walk ending at Potters Fields Park, where the event village will comprise healthy food outlets, toilets and exercise/wellness activities, including yoga.  

An estimated 2,000 walkers will arrive from 1230 across all lawns in Potters Fields Park.  The event ends around 1730.

13 September, 2022

The Shad Thames Residents’ Association wishes to express its condolences following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts are with the Royal family at this time.

As the capital prepares for the Queen’s funeral, it is possible that Shad Thames and adjacent areas along the Southbank will be impacted by large crowds of people queuing to see the Queen’s Lying-in-State.

The details we have at this time are included below. 

The Queue

The Queen will lie in state at Westminster Hall beginning at 17:00 on Wednesday, 14 September until 06:30 on Monday, 19 September. People who want to pay their respects to the Queen have already begun queuing. 

The queue starts in Victoria Tower Gardens, will cross Lambeth Bridge and then run along the Southbank. Preparations are being made in the event that the queue extends all the way to Southwark Park. 

Should the queue reach all the way to Shad Thames, it will join Shad Thames under Tower Bridge and extend down the road, exiting at Jamaica Road and then turning back down Mill Street. At this time, stewards do not anticipate that the non-pedestrianised parts of Shad Thames will need to be closed to traffic. We will update residents should this change.

The queue will remain open 24 hours a day and should move constantly, apart from brief periods when Westminster Hall is being cleaned or used for rehearsals.

Stewards will be on site in Shad Thames beginning Wednesday 14 September. 

 
Security

According to the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, which is responsible for overseeing the queue, the Metropolitan Police will be providing security to keep the queue safe. We are already seeing an increased police presence in Shad Thames, with both foot and bike patrols. 

Toilets and Cleaning

There will be temporary toilet facilities installed along the route. A large number of temporary toilets were delivered to Potters Fields Park this morning. Stewards have been warned that there are no public toilet facilities available within Shad Thames. 

There will also be water and first aid stations along the route. 

Southwark Council will be deploying cleaning staff to litter pick and remove waste 24 hours a day, beginning Wednesday 14 September through Monday. Residents can expect to see the deployment of sack holders to contain waste produced by public in the queue so the bins are not overrun.

Anti-social behaviour

While we hope everyone waiting in line will be on best behaviour, the possibility of anti-social behaviour exists. Should you experience any, including excessive noise, please report it to the police by calling 101.

25 April 2022

STRA has been informed by FilmFixer that a large-scale production will be filming in Shad Thames on Monday, 9 May and Tuesday, 10 May, with set up beginning on Sunday, 8 May and a back-up filming date of Wednesday, 11 May. 

While most of the activity will take place within the usual hours agreed with FilmFixer, on both evenings the filming will go until midnight. 

The production company has also obtained permission from Southwark to suspend several parking bays and control traffic on Shad Thames itself. 

After discussions with STRA, the film production company have agreed to several measures to help mitigate any disturbance to residents including: offering blackout materials to any residents who feel they will be impacted by lighting, paid parking in Q Park for any residents whose parking is impacted by the suspensions, and a promise to accommodate any deliveries or special access that residents have already arranged for those dates. 

They have also agreed to a generous donation, which will be used on behalf of Shad Thames residents. 

The map of the areas impacted by the filming is below. 

The production company has provided contact details for residents who would like to be in touch with them in advance of the production with questions or to arrange for blackout materials. 

Eleanor Downey, Location Manager

Mobile: 07779 169 370

Email: eleanorsdowney@gmail.com

Rebecca Dark, Location Manager

Mobile: 07825 189 359

Email: rebeccadark@live.com

Harry Wyeth, Assistant Location Manager

Mobile: 07725 250 182

Email: harrywyeth@btinternet.com

Residents can also reach FilmFixer on 020 7620 0391 (during business hours) or on their 24 hour line 020 7620 0391. 

On 8 March 2022, in honour of International Women's Day, STRA held an event focused on the safety of women and girls in Southwark at The Dixon hotel on Tooley Street. 

We were lucky to be joined by Rachel Bentley, who co-hosted the event with STRA, Councillors Humaira Ali and Maria Linford Hall, founder of Su Mano Amiga, Met Police Superintendent Dan Ivey and Detective Superintendent Clair Kelland, members of the Borough Belles WI, Southwark Young Advisors, the security and events teams at London Bridge City, as well as Shad Thames residents and nearby neighbours. 

Councillor Humaira Ali addressing the attendees.

*The STRA  2021 AGM was on Wednesday 20 October at 7:00 pm.   Minutes to follow.*

Following the Parking Zone G Review, the Council have approved the introduction of new restrictions, effective from 14 March 2022. 

To summarise:

Parking zone ‘G’ will be changed from operating Monday to Friday 8.30am-6.30pm to Monday to Sunday 8.30am to 11pm

The proposals to create a separate CPZ for the Shad Thames area will not go ahead

Full details can be found on the Southwark Council web site:

https://www.southwark.gov.uk/parking/parking-projects/cpz-g-review

 This multiple choice form (link below) generates an email that arrives in your inbox. You need to forward the email to Southwark and the LPHA (email addresses provided in the form). The information is automatically uploaded to a spreadsheet so we can keep track of the most problematic boats.

Boats that conceal their names can be identified using the MarineTraffic app. The current most problematic boat is the River Room, which is recently renamed and shows up on the app as ‘Harmony’.

The link to the form is here:

https://forms.gle/UYk5mzau5M2ttEuy9

The email to use if you have a question is thamespartyboats21@gmail.com

 More than 140 people participated in the April public meeting convened by STRA and Councillors Hamish McCallum and Humaira Ali to discuss anti-social behaviour in the area with representatives of the Met Police Southwark Council, More London, Potters Fields Park, and Team London Bridge (please find minutes from that meeting attached to the item directly below this one). 

In a follow-up call on 3 June, those same stakeholders reported on the steps that have been taken to help alleviate this behaviour. The police, the Park and the Council have all provided extra security over the last two months, which has resulted in a reduction in ASB. Other steps include extra cleaning, bins, lights, CCTV, and signage in the area. Stakeholders reported a rise in ASB across the borough in recent months. 

In addition, both the Park and More London reported that as part of the summer programming they have planned, they will both be providing additional temporary toilets for the summer months, hopefully improving conditions for Shad Thames residents and businesses. 

The police continue to urge residents to report anti-social behaviour by calling 999 while the behaviour is in progress or 101 after the fact. 

There will be another check-in later this summer to be sure that the situation remains stable.

This meeting took place with around 147 people joining the Zoom call.

The purpose of the meeting was to give area residents and business owners a chance to hear from the Police, Council officers, and representatives of More London, Potters Fields Park, and the local business district about the actions they are taking in response to the events of last weekend and their plans for the reopening of licensed premises like pubs and bars. It was also an opportunity for residents and businesses to share their experiences and ask questions.

The meeting was chaired by Councillors Humaira Ali and Hamish McCallum.

The speakers were:

Southwark Council – Jackie McGeever, Manager Southwark Anti-Social Behaviour Unit

Met Police – Inspector Tom Cornish, Neighbourhood inspector at @MPSSouthwark.

Potters Fields – Sheila Benjamin, Chief Executive, Potters Fields Park Trust

More London – Magnus MacAulay, Estate Director, London Bridge City

Team London Bridge – Nadia Broccardo, Executive Director at London Bridge Business Improvement District

STRA would like to thank all the participants for their time and contribution to the discussion.

A summary of the questions that were posted during the meeting, along with answers from contributors will be compiled and distributed to all the attendees in the coming weeks.

Minutes from the meeting can be downloaded here:

March 2022

The project is mostly complete.  Please report any issue to info@shadthames.org.

3 December 2020

The Tide Line – an evocative landscape designed by Ludwig Willis Architects with Structure Workshop and Howard Miller Landscape and Design – has been revealed as the winning concept in the LFA and Butler’s Wharf Riverside Trust’s ‘Reimagining Butler’s Wharf’ competition.

Full details here:

https://www.londonfestivalofarchitecture.org/competition-winner-revealed-reimagining-butlers-wharf/

STRA has supported BWRT in principle and through financial contributions since its inception. The announcement of the winner is a major step forward for this project. 

You can also follow BWRT on Twitter (@bwriverside) and on Instagram (@butlerswharfriverside) and visit their website: www.butlerswharfriverside.org 

See updates here

Join our Facebook page, Our Shad Thames, to join in the conversation and see up to date news and comments - https://www.facebook.com/groups/shadthames/

In order for the Police to have an accurate picture of anti-social behaviour in our local area, please use the link below for reporting anything you see:

 https://www.met.police.uk/ro/report/asb/asb/report-antisocial-behaviour/

At the STRA AGM a question was asked about what can be done about helicopter noise in the area.

Anood, our local Councillor, contacted Caroline Pidgeon at the GLA, and received the following reply.  Anood will follow up in the New Year.

You will see from the links below that this is a problem that is receiving London-wide attention.
 
"Caroline will indeed ask some Mayoral Questions in the New Year, however in the meantime I thought this information from her website might be useful.

http://www.carolinepidgeon.org/node/1019
 
Caroline also asked a couple of written Mayoral Questions back in September.   I thought they might be useful.
 
http://questions.london.gov.uk/QuestionSearch/searchclient/questions/question_289305
 
http://questions.london.gov.uk/QuestionSearch/searchclient/questions/question_289304
 
I also enclose a written Parliamentary Question asked by Tom Brake:
 
http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-question/Commons/2016-09-15/46592 "
 
Mark Morris
Office of Caroline Pidgeon AM
Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member
City Hall, The Queen's Walk, London SE1 2AA
Tel: 020 7983 4336
Mob: 07917214788
LD Tweet
Follow us on twitter:    
@CarolinePidgeon