Thames Lifeboat Station Proposal Makes Progress

RNLI planning new facility in the Wandsworth Riverside Quarter

A visualisation of the potential new lifeboat station in Wandsworth. Picture: RNLI/David Clarke

September 27, 2024

The RNLI has confirmed that it has completed the purchase of a building near Wandsworth Park where it intends to host a lifeboat station

The property is part of the Wandsworth Riverside Quarter development at 90 Point Pleasant. It previously served as a marketing suite for the sale of flats in the scheme.

The RNLI says it needs to move to larger premises and because the lease on the existing facility at Chiswick Pier House is due to expire and the premises no longer fulfilled its requirements.

Permission has already been granted by Wandsworth Council (2024/2572) for a change of use at the building to allow a lifeboat station to be opened.

An appeal was made by the RNLI to raise the £2.7 million needed to purchase the site and make the necessary changes to allow lifeboats to be launched from there. The pier to be used is about 80 yards north of the building.

No major changes are planned for the building. A new visitor entrance will be provided onto the existing terrace, including new white stone paving slabs and a new gate within the existing railing. Three storage boxes will be placed on the pier and a new radio antenna will be positioned on the roof.

Accommodation would be provided for on and off duty team members to rest and staff welfare facilities such as modest cooking space, beds and toilets for RNLI crew members would be installed. The building will also provide accommodation for the storage of life boat related kit and other operational requirements.

A report submitted with the application for change or use states that the crews are used to operating in a residential area from being based in Chiswick and, unlike Coast Guard vessels, no sirens are sounded on launch.

The RNLI first started operations on the Thames in 2002 and since then volunteer crews have launched rescues from a shared building own by the Chiswick Pier Trust.

As part of the fundraising appeal to purchase the building, Chiswick Lifeboat Station manager Wayne Bellamy said, ‘The new lifeboat station will provide modern facilities for our crew, and a place to welcome the public. It will help us save lives for decades to come.

‘Moving from Chiswick to Wandsworth Riverside will put the boat and its crew in the best possible place to save lives. Currently, around 70% of our shouts are eastwards, towards the city. We estimate that moving to the new station will reduce our average emergency response time by 1 minute and 20 seconds. That time could mean the difference between life and death. Every moment counts on the tidal Thames.

‘It will bring our whole crew together in one place, one home. We’ll be able to help and support each other much more effectively than we’ve ever been able to do before. With bespoke and vastly improved training, rest and recuperation space, it will make a huge difference to our volunteers’ wellbeing.

‘And it will allow us to continue our lifesaving work, but better. The new public engagement area will be so important for our water safety and education work. We’ll be able to welcome more people and offer them a better experience. It will allow us to educate larger groups of children, to share more water safety tips, to build awareness and to rally more support for the charity generally. It’s a platform for the future.’

From January 2002 to 10 April 2024, it is estimated that 193 lives have been saved and 2,538 people aided during the 4,616 launches from Chiswick Lifeboat Station. More than 65 volunteer crew members have participated in these rescues.

A spokesperson for the charity said, ‘The RNLI has recently completed on the purchase of a building in London. This is intended to function as a multi-purpose space and an operational base for lifeboat crew. We are currently working through necessary permissions and licences as well as the design for the building.

‘The opportunity to purchase a building like this comes up very rarely and it was important for us to move quickly to secure it. Buying an existing building is much cheaper and less complex than finding a location on the river and building a property there.

‘Using this as a multi-purpose space will offer fundraising and water safety education opportunities as well as providing an operational base.

‘The timing is dependent on the various permissions.’