Trinity Hospital River Wall Repairs

The Environment Agency has made a long awaited Planning Application (Ref: 17/3556/F) to demolish and rebuild the river wall in front of Trinity Hospital. The works will be extensive and the river path will have to be closed for at least 190 days - longer if there are unforeseen issues like archaeological remains.

Although the official consultation period has ended, the council put up the original notices with no dates and will accept comments until the matter comes up for decision.

The key issues for local residents are:

- the work needs to be done in a timely manner, unlike the current repairs by the Bellot Memorial in front of the ORNC which have been proceeding at a snail's pace;

- the detour route - Eastney Street, Old Woolwich Road and Lassell Street - is unattractive with narrow pavements, a busy school, dense street parking and commercial traffic servicing the industrial sites. It's a popular rat-run too which is bad news for cyclists;

- there are likely to be impacts on riverside businesses bearing in mind there are already path closures at River Gardens and Enderby Wharf;

- it would be nice to have some local input into the reconstruction phase of the path and garden, particularly given the history of anti-social behaviour and poor maintenance of the garden.