Overview

Updated on 29 January 2025

What is this page?

This page contains the latest updates from the West London Communities project. It provides the context for why the project is being delivered and also gives you links to important related information, including recent newsletters, FAQs and other related projects going ahead that link to this one. Links to relevant documents can be found at the bottom of this page.

We will update this page every 6 months at this stage of the project; we plan to provide the next update in April 2025.

Latest project update

During the last 12 months, we have focused on establishing the flood risk impacts from the change in Thames Barrier operation (from 2035). We have, in collaboration with Binnies (the engineering consultancy working on the River Thames Scheme) generated detailed data showing the water level impacts for a range of flood events across the whole study area. During the summer and autumn of 2024, we ran some quality assurance on the results. We have identified a need for additional analysis relating to future sea level rise. This will help us to better understand and plan for climate change impacts beyond 2050.

Unfortunately, the additional analysis is taking longer than anticipated and we now expect this to be completed by the end of spring 2025. We are sorry that this means we will be delayed in being able to share relevant information with the communities impacted by the Thames Barrier operation change in 2035. 

Once we have received the complete data, we will need to review it and thoroughly analyse the outputs, what it means and how we approach the project based on that information. Part of this process will also include ensuring our many teams working across the Thames are aware of the data and its impact. After going through these processes, we will be able to share the information publicly and answer any questions our communities and key stakeholders may have.

Below is a timeline outlining what we believe to be a realistic timeline of the activities involved in the rest of this modelling effort and when you can expect to hear more detail about the modelled impacts from 2035.

West London Communities Project Context

The Thames Barrier and associated defences were originally designed to manage the tidal risk upstream of the Barrier to Teddington Weir for the duration of its lifespan to 2070. Over the last few decades, the original remit has expanded to manage fluvial flooding to areas further upstream of Teddington Weir. This means the Barrier now closes more frequently than it would under the original operating procedures. If this elevated operation continues, then the Barrier will not be able to fulfil its original intended purpose with the required level of reliability. As part of the Thames Estuary 2100 Plan, which sets out how we can manage rising sea levels and increasing tidal flood risk on the Thames, we need to manage the number of Thames Barrier closures to preserve its lifespan. We provide further information on Barrier reliability and maximum closures in the related documents below.