Information Exchange System

The Port of London Authority (PLA) is the licensing authority for maintenance dredging operations in the River Thames and Estuary, some 150km in length. In recognition of the growing environmental awareness amongst river stakeholders and also the need to demonstrate a transparent decision-making process, the PLA, together with the Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP), initiated the development of an Information Exchange System (IES). The concepts behind the IES are to bring together stakeholders as partners in the decision-making process, to share information and to produce an excellent baseline of relevant environmental data for the Thames. The partners include, amongst others, the Environment Agency, English Nature, RSPB, Kent and Essex Sea Fisheries Committee and two dredging companies, with the TEP providing administrative support and a neutral forum for discussion.

The PLA carries out a scientific and environmental assessment of each application for maintenance dredging within the limits of the Port of London. The assessment includes the potential effects on legislative requirements, coastal processes, sediment quality, water quality, ecology, fisheries, archaeology, local community and recreation with a summary being recorded in the PLA’s Environmental Checklist.

The assessment is informed by the IES which provides details of environmental sensitivities in the vicinity of dredge sites. The PLA’s Environmental Scientist uses the IES, together with information about the proposed dredge, to inform decision-making on consultation requirements for an individual project.

The IES is being developed as part of a number of initiatives in the PLA’s Maintenance Dredging Framework including a beneficial use register, environmental monitoring and research and guidance notes for berth operators. It has been created using Cadcorp ASC (Active Server Component) Software and is deployed over the Internet using a secure connection so only members of the TEP’s Dredging Liaison Group (DLG) can access the site. Security is important due to confidentiality issues with some of the data contained in the system.

The data has been supplied by members of the DLG to include dredged sites within the Thames (dredging companies), water and sediment quality data (Environment Agency), information about fish and shellfish (Kent and Essex Sea Fisheries Committee), and environmental designations e.g. SSSI’s and SAC’s (English Nature). Each partner has agreed to provide updates to their data every quarter, they remain the owners of the data and are responsible for keeping the system current.

Facilities within the system allow the user to search for a specific dredge site, either by name or by using the map, and then display the environmental information that is applicable to that site. This allows the user to find the necessary information to inform decision making regarding the effects of maintenance dredging on the surrounding area. The interface also uses the standard GIS tools for zoom, pan and measurement and allows the environmental data to be queried.

As the IES is used further developments and enhancements are completed based on feedback and additional data becoming available. Data to be added in the future includes bird count data from the RSPB and fisheries data for the upriver sections from the Environment Agency.

Access to theIES for members can be found via this link

Further information on the IES (PDF 2,608kb)