The tide has turned. The new Leader of Greenwich Council, has come out strongly in favour of a green cruise port at Greenwich, putting pressure on developers to take a look at plans for Enderby Wharf. Yesterday evening he tweeted: @DanLThorpe Further to discussions on the Enderby Wharf Cruise Liner terminal, please see a statement from myself on the work I’ve been doing to respond to community concerns: bit.ly/2urO6Fk @Royal_Greenwich In a release issued by Greenwich Council, Cllr Thorpe said: "I'm hugely disappointed that no sensible proposal has yet been received from the site owner. It is vital that the borough secures a well-balanced proposal that includes a sufficient amount of genuinely affordable housing alongside employment opportunities for local people. "We are working hard to improve air quality across the borough and recognise that it is a significant concern for all residents. I want to assure residents that we are doing all we can to seek a resolution to this issue. "I'm publicly calling on the developer to urgently come back to the table with sensible and meaningful proposals that address the concerns of the community, as well as ensuring any new scheme complies with our planning policies.” For the full statement please check out: http://www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk/news/article/1253/make_cruise_terminal_green_or_find_another_option_says_council_leader This is great news. It means the Mayor of London and the Leader of Greenwich Council are now actively working to prevent a cruise port at Enderby Wharf based on existing plans, given their devastating potential impact on people’s health and the environment. Congratulations to everyone who signed the 7,000 strong petition - handed to the council at the end of June. For the full story see: https://www.londonnewsonline.co.uk/7000-sign-anti-ship-petition-against-cruise-liners-docking-in-south-east-london/ Click on the link below and you can view residents’ plea to the council about 17 minutes in to the meeting: https://royalgreenwich.publici.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/354438 You’ll see Laura Eyres, one of the representatives of the No Toxic Port campaign, ask Danny Thorpe, Leader of Greenwich Council, to set up a group to find a solution to Enderby Wharf that includes members of the local community as well as relevant stakeholders. He was also asked to commit to on shore power, though at the time he said that he needed more time to discuss things through with developers. His recent post on the Greenwich Council website suggests that talks may not have gone as he hoped. Following Danny Thorpe’s statement the No Toxic Port campaigners have responsed with an upbeat message: "It's great to see the community's campaigning paying off and Greenwich Council now in full throttle pushing for a clean cruise port or none at all. It would be good though to be able to understand a bit more about the discussions Greenwich have had with developers so far. We back Cllr Thorpe's call on developers to slash the environmental impact from the cruise port. Morgan Stanley are trying to sell Enderby Wharf, but they need to get real. No one is going to buy this toxic development. They need to listen to the community, to the Mayor of London, sit down with our Council and do the right thing. They can't leave the land and local people in limbo any longer." Morgan Stanley claim to have environmental concerns at the heart of their strategy. Their environmental statement reads (https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us-governance/pdf/Environmental_Policy.pdf): “We also realize our long-term business goals are best achieved in societies that embrace sustainable development. Contributions we make with our clients to help minimize environmental and social risks, such as making sound investments in environmentally beneficial technologies, encouraging investors to mitigate environmental risks and engaging stakeholders in open and constructive dialogue, can have positive impacts for communities, businesses, governments and the environment.” We very much look forward to ‘open and constructive’ dialogue. Indeed, according to Newshopper, a spokesman for Morgan Stanley said: “We’re working on fresh proposals for the Enderby Wharf site and look forward to engaging with the council to discuss these in the near future.” The local community are looking forward to seeing exactly what those new proposals look like. (See http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/16359788.toxic-port-owner-working-on-new-proposals-for-enderby-wharf/ for the full update on 18th July) THE CASE FOR ONSHORE POWER For more information about the effects of emissions from the London cruise line terminal please see this recent article in the Ecologist by Joseph Dutton: https://theecologist.org/2018/jul/11/london-cruise-terminal-expansion-threatens-citys-air-quality-writes-joseph-dutton It makes the case for onshore power once again by pointing out that if other ports can do it why can’t we? He writes: Major ports in Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands have onshore power supplies in place. Pollution from shipping is estimated to cause 50,000 premature deaths in Europe every year, but using onshore power can help tackle air pollution. Onshore power reduces emissions of nitrous oxide and sulphur dioxide by up to 97 percent, as well as the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. It also cuts noise pollution and vibration from ship’s engines, which are a health hazard for crew and residents living nearby. For up to the minute updates please check out @NoToxicPort on twitter.