Martha Grekos was invited by the Port of London Authority to moderate the annual Thames and London Waterways Forum where more than 100 people came together both in person at the Museum of London Docklands and online.

London’s deputy mayor for Transport, Heidi Alexander, delivered the opening address.   She reflected that the last 18 months had been the most difficult period in London’s history since the Second World War. She said: “Getting London’s economy back on its feet has been a top priority for the Mayor.  The Let’s Do London campaign – London’s largest ever domestic tourism campaign – has brought £70 million in added tourism spend and 280,000 extra visitors to central London.”

The deputy mayor highlighted Transport for London support to the river industry, providing relief on tenant fees in 2020 and 2021; the PLA had taken a similar approach.   She concluded by thanking the river community for their hard work, resilience and commitment to promoting the Thames and London’s waterways in what have been extremely difficult circumstances.

Presentations and discussions at the event covered London’s recovery, light freight developments, the refresh of the Thames Vision and the development of a low carbon and resilient river.

Martha Grekos, who is a member of the Thames Estuary Growth Board and the London's Infrastructure Advisory Board, concluded: “There are clearly a lot of exciting low carbon and green developments and innovations coming forward, which will see the river used more by people, freight and nature, become even more resilient given the climate crisis we are facing and provide for cleaner operations to advance too.  The river has a celebrated past and an exciting future. It was very What was clear too  that there was lots of love for the river in the room, and online! Its legacy is now in our hand."

A recording of the Forum will be available on the PLA website here and a summary of the event is available on Tidal Thames News here.