The four strategies will provide a geographically continuous framework to enable local authorities and other public bodies to deliver the adaption and mitigation measures needed to support the TE2100 Plan.

TE2100’s 10-year review recommended the creation of Riverside Strategies. By embedding the TE2100 plan Riverside Strategy approach principles/objectives into the Thames Strategies it means that they can be used by individual local authorities to form the basis of their Riverside Strategies.  This will save time and money for local authorities and achieve the TE2100 Plan’s timeline for having Riverside Strategies in place. It will also avoid confusion at the local community level which could be created by multiple pieces of work being undertaken by different bodies.

An overarching Joint Thames Strategy will also be produced which will provide the strategic context within which the project is being delivered including the policy and legislative context.

‘A toolkit providing the information that underpins and aligns the four local strategies.’

It will be informed by the outputs from the work undertaken as part of the four Thames Strategies.  Importantly, taking a consistent methodological approach to the work being undertaken for the individual strategies,and covering a continuous geographic area, will provide a key mechanism for delivering the TE2100 Plan’s objective of having continuous flood defences along the tidal Thames.  At present this covers the extent of the tidal Thames within the Thames RFCC’s area of remit.

The existing Thames Strategies were prepared to provide a long-term vision for individual stretches of the River Thames (the River) and its immediate environs.  They respond to the built and natural character of the River and identify opportunities for enhancement.  Their development took an inclusive approach by working with both key organisations and local communities.

Recognising the need to adapt to climate change along the Thames Estuary (which covers the extent of the tidal Thames) the existing Strategies provide an existing ‘place-based’  context that already respond to many of the objectives that the Environment Agency have identified through its Thames Estuary 2100 Plan (the TE2100 Plan) and, in particular, many of the key requirements identified in its ‘Riverside Strategy pproach.’

‘Managing flood risk as sea levels rise will mean reshaping our riversides. This is an opportunity to create additional benefits. We want to provide benefits to people, the economy and the environment. Some examples of benefits include:

• better opportunities for leisure and recreation, such as riverside paths

• improved health and wellbeing, for instance by creating more green space for people to enjoy

• creating new wildlife habitat

• natural carbon storage, for example by creating saltmarshes

• protecting landscapes

• protecting historic buildings, such as the Tower of London

Source:  TE2100 website ‘Creating Benefits and riverside strategies’

Importantly the existing Thames Strategies and their associated Partnerships are well established, have a strong local perspective, and are already used by many local planning authorities in the programme area.

In response to increasing flood risk from climate change, the Joint Thames Strategy provides a "handbook for change" from Surrey to the Sea. It aligns four local Thames Strategies into one cohesive vision, embedding the Environment Agency's TE2100 Riverside Strategy approach. By working collaboratively, the Thames Strategy Partnership empowers local communities and authorities to integrate enhanced flood resilience with wider benefits—creating a more vibrant, accessible, and economically robust Thames for future generations.

Engage, Empower and Enhance