Port of London Authority - Limits

Limits

The PLA's responsibility is from a point marked by an obelisk just downstream of Teddington Lock (the upstream limit of the tidal river) to where the river joins the North Sea (between Margate to the south and Gunfleet Lighthouse near Frinton-on-Sea to the north), a total of around 95 miles (150 km). The Port Authority does not cover the Medway or the Swale.

From the City of London, via the Thames Conservancy, the PLA has inherited ownership of the bed of the river and foreshore from Teddington to the Yantlet Line (between Southend and Grain). The PLA during much of the 20th Century owned and operated many of the docks and wharfs in the Port, however they have been privatised. Today the PLA acts mainly as a managing authority of the use of the tidal stretch of the River Thames, ensuring safe navigation and the well-being of the port and its activities. Comparable responsibilities for the river including, and upstream of, Teddington Lock fall to the Environment Agency.

The PLA today has a number of duties which it exercises, including responsibility for river traffic control, security, navigational safety (including buoys, beacons, bridge lights and channel surveys), the conserving of the river (including dredging and maintaining certain river banks), encouraging use of the river (for both commercial and leisure use) and protecting its marine environment. The PLA is responsible for the operation of Richmond Lock, but it is not responsible for the operation of the Thames Barrier which is managed by the Environment Agency in its flood management role.