Birds and boats to flock to green marina?
A GREEN boating community could soon be sharing space with the birds in East India Dock Basin.
The bird sanctuary near Trinity Buoy Wharf has been suggested as a home for 48 boats, which could draw almost all of their energy from wind and water power.
A committee of 10 present and past Poplar Dock boat owners is behind the plan for the new mooring, which they hope to run as a co-operative.
Committee chairman Rod Taylor said: “The idea is to use half of the water space. Wildlife, fish and birds all co-exist with boaters in Poplar Dock, and we think the introduction of a green marina will encourage an ecosystem to grow.”
The committee hopes to run the community on the east quay on a non-profit basis, with mooring fees being invested in maintenance and a full-time caretaker.
They have devised the plan in response to the rising cost of commercially-run moorings, which they believe is pricing out low-income and key workers. The remaining spaces will be given to boaters with a range of skills to create a multi-skilled community.
Fellow committee member Maggie O’Donovan said: “We want a range of people, from electricians and key workers to plumbers and environmentalists.
“We could be unique in terms of being one of the few co-operative marinas in the country, and we’re looking at incorporating turbines and wind generators, so we can be close to carbon neutral.
"We’re not going into this with rose-tinted spectacles. We know it will be hard to run a marina. But it’s in our interest to maintain it properly as we’ll be living there.”
The committee has submitted an outline proposal for the plan, which would involve dredging the mud-clogged basin and repairing the lock gates. The basin is owned by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, but it falls within the Thames Gateway regeneration area.
A spokeswoman for the authority confirmed options for the area were being discussed, but they were “at a very early stage”.
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I live adjacent to the East India Dock Basin and think this idea "stinks". All boats pollute; there is no such thing as a green boat. Whilst Poplar Dock may well attract some wildlife alongside the many boats there, I doubt it attracts the diversity of species that frequent the East India Dock Basin. The peace and tranquility of this place should be maintained. This is the last piece of open water in the main part of the Docklands that is left for the wildlife. Let's not get too attracted to the romance of "Social-Housing-on-Water". Let's see this for what it is - another invasion of a wild space by human beings.
Sounds like yet another hairbrained scheme to me!!Like the 'ALUNA'. Well intentioned as it might be at the outset, it will inevitably end up as an eyesore as the orignal residents take their profit from selling their mooring rights and move on. This wildlife sanctuary should remain exactly that.FOR THE WILDLIFE!!
I Live in Virginia Quay next the basin and I strongly oppose this scheme. This is a wild life site uner control of the Lea Valley Authority who have previously been asked by our Residents Association as to this very question. We were assured that any proposal of this kind would not be permitted for obvious ecological reasons.The basin would have to be dredged and would cause trauma to the any birds that use it as a shelter.
I am informing the Comittee of the VQRA of thi proposal and they will no doubt be adding their comments shortly.
Leslie Morris