You need a River Thames accommodation licence for any structure on, in or over the river or cut into the river bank.
Complete this application form to apply for permission to install a new accommodation structure.
Examples of a structure are jetties, pontoons, docks and slipways.
To complete the form print and fill in the above PDF and return to the Environment Agency at the address contained within the form.
The report contains:
Yesterday (Wednesday 24 January 2018), Paul Tranter of Turnings, Knighton, pleaded guilty at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates’ Court to a charge of failing to produce waste transfer notes for his business.
The 49-year-old was fined £2,000, ordered to pay £1,782.68 in costs along with a £170 victim surcharge.
As part of a wider investigation into Mr Tranter’s activities in relation to end of life vehicles at the Peugeot Breakers site in Knighton, Environment Agency officers served a notice on him on 7 September 2016. This notice required Mr Tranter to produce waste transfer notes or written records relating to the transfer of all controlled waste to and from the site between 10 September 2014 and 7 September 2016.
A waste transfer note is used to record the transfer of waste between different holders. This can be between the producer of the waste and a waste carrier, or a waste carrier and a disposal site or transfer station. There is a requirement to produce these notes under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
No documentation was received by the Environment Agency from Mr Tranter and so a letter was sent to him on 12 October 2016 stating that the requirements of the notice had not been complied with. A fixed penalty notice for the failure to comply with the notice, served on him in September 2016, was issued on 19 January 2017, requiring payment of the penalty within one month. To date the Environment Agency has still not received the documentation required and Mr Tranter has failed to pay the fixed penalty notice.
Speaking after the case, an Environment Agency officer in charge of the investigation said:
Waste transfer notes allow everyone involved in the transfer to know what they are dealing with so they can manage it properly. Waste, if not managed properly, can damage the environment and blight local communities so these transfer notes allow us to check that waste has been disposed of safely and lawfully.
During sentencing the magistrates commented that Mr Tranter had been foolish to ignore the notices and noted that this was not his first incident with the Environment Agency (warning letter in 2011).
In mitigation Mr Tranter stated that he didn’t understand the requirements around waste transfer notes, runs a small business and wants to ‘keep going’. He also stated that the waste did always go to permitted facilities, although there were no transfer notes to show this.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), covering England and Northern Ireland, and the Welsh Government, today opened separate consultations which will enable stakeholders and members of the public to help shape policies on the geological disposal programme – the draft Working with Communities policy and the draft National Policy Statement.
Geological disposal involves isolating radioactive waste in a highly-engineered facility deep underground and within multiple protective barriers, to ensure that no harmful quantities of radioactivity ever reach the surface environment. Across the world, geological disposal, preceded by safe and secure interim storage, is acknowledged as the best solution for managing higher-activity radioactive wastes in the long-term.
The consultations will explore views on the approach to planning and selecting a site for a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) in partnership with potential willing host communities.
Ann McCall, Radioactive Waste Management’s (RWM) GDF Siting and Engagement Director, said:
Geological disposal will provide a safe, secure and long-term solution to managing the UK’s radioactive waste,
and RWM welcomes the public consultations launched today which place communities at the heart of the
process. As the delivery body for geological disposal, we are eager to hear people’s views on how we can work
with communities to progress this important programme on behalf of society.
You can have your say on the draft policies by responding directly to BEIS or Welsh Government through their dedicated consultation websites. If you are resident in England or Northern Ireland you can participate by visiting the BEIS consultations portal. For Welsh residents, please visit the Welsh Government consultations portal. The consultations will be open for 12 weeks.
A safe, responsible, long-term solution for the permanent disposal of radioactive waste is the focus of 2 new consultations launched today by the government.
The UK has long generated radioactive waste most of which is low in radioactivity and is disposed of safely every day – from power stations to use in a range of industrial applications including medicine and defence. Some materials need more specialised disposal facilities and this waste is currently held safely in stores above ground. It is not sustainable to keep storing past and future waste on a temporary basis.
A Geological Disposal Facility (GDF) is internationally recognised as the safest and most secure way to permanently dispose of higher activity radioactive waste. This involves placing this waste at least 200 metres underground in a highly engineered facility made up of multiple layers of materials such as steel, rock and clay to provide protection while some of the waste remains radioactive – ensuring that no harmful quantities of radioactivity ever reach the surface.
The construction of a GDF would also support a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK, by providing a safe and secure way to dispose of the waste they produce. It will create up to 2,000 well-paid, skilled jobs and bring at least £8 billion to the UK economy over the lifetime of the facility.
Energy Minister Richard Harrington said:
We owe it to future generations to take action now to find a suitable permanent site for the safe disposal of our radioactive waste. And it is right that local communities have a say. Planning consent will only be given to sites which have local support.
Mr Harrington added:
As the government set out in our Industrial Strategy, the nuclear sector has a key role to play in increasing productivity and driving clean growth. Nuclear is a vital part of our energy mix, providing low carbon power now and into the future.
Professor Iain Stewart, Director of the Sustainable Earth Institute, Plymouth University, said:
A geological disposal facility is widely accepted as the only realistic way to dispose of higher activity nuclear waste for the long-term.
Geological disposal facilities are already being developed in Finland, Sweden, France, and Canada.
The first consultation, Working with communities sets out how the project developer will engage with people in areas that may be interested in hosting a disposal facility to seek their views and the second, on the proposed National Policy Statement, will create a rigorous planning process.
Radioactive Waste Management Ltd (RWM) will deliver geological disposal on behalf of the government.
Ann McCall, Radioactive Waste Management’s GDF Siting and Engagement Director, said:
Geological disposal will provide a safe, secure and long-term solution to managing the UK’s radioactive waste, and RWM welcomes the public consultations launched today which place communities at the heart of the process.