BOATYARD operators across Brentford Chiswick and Isleworth say the industry could be forced from the river within five years due to the increasing pressure of property development squeezing them from their traditional homes.

While members of the London Assembly have announced a possible investigation into the management of the river at the end of April, which would include the Port of London Authority (who are in charge of Brentford Chiswick and Isleworth stretch), the boatyards are getting increasingly pessimistic about the compatibility of their industrial work with the demands of luxury property development.

Brentford, once a hub for boatyards due to its location on the Thames, river Brent and the Grand Union Canal, has now only three surviving boatyards, all of which are understood to be experiencing problems. While some are threatened with eviction, those left say that it is getting increasingly hard to carry out noisy industrial work next to their newly residential neighbours.

Ridgeway, located south of Brentford High Street, is currently in a legal wrangle with Brentford Town Centre Ltd, over their existence on the plot of land which has been earmarked as part of the High Street redevelopment.

Meanwhile, the nearby MSO Marine (on the old EC Jones site), which employs up to 20 workers, and Isleworth's BJ Wood & Son in Lion Wharf Road both say that increasing tensions over issues such as noise are forcing them to curtail their businesses, while river watchdogs are still smarting over the decision to change the use of the old Grove Park boatyard in Chiswick into residential apartments.

Pauline Hill, a partner at MSO Marine on Dock Road, told the Times: "Our days here are numbered - we are dissappearing under housing. If it carries on like this we've got another five years. We have got houses proposed all around us. They won't like our activities one bit we are too noisy.

"When your struggling against people in houses complaining its very difficult. It's really not sensible when councils allow housing all around industrial sites. Boat building is not a very profitable business. If you have to fight all the way there are just not enough hours in the day."

She added that when sandblasting was banned due to noise complaints, the company was forced to invest in new equipment that cost £40k, and believes further activities will soon become untenable.

Robert Wood of Isleworth's BJ Wood, agreed, saying: "We do have problems with residential development - people are complaining about the noise. We used to do sandblasting as well, but the council stopped us due to the noise two years ago.

Continued on page two "We've been here since 1963 - it was a back water then and an industrial area. Now they are building residentital, but the two just don't mix.

"When this first happened we lost 40 per cent of our business. We are waiting for the summer when people open their windows and hear the noise - there's very little we can do. We can't go anywhere else though, as by the river it is all built up. It's a constant struggle."

Nigel Moore, of Ridgeway Motors which has been there since 1947, added: "My company has been under pressure from property developers for a very long time - it was sold to me in those circumstances.

"They want to put supermarket on my property and feel in the grid and repair service. They have shown me plans for the high street that go over my boatyard. If developers have their way boatbuilding will go forever. Five years seems a conservative estimate."

Many of the river's boatyards have already disappeared from the area - The London assembly will discuss the possibility of an investigation into the river on April 22, but even if given the go-ahead, the idea would not be implemented before the end of the year.

Roger Weston, chairman of the West London River Group and the chairman of the Thames Landscape strategy from Kew to Chelsea, welcomed the idea of an investigation: "Clearly if we want recreational use then need somewhere for boat yards but there's often not much money in those sort of things. Often the businesses are pressured to hand over sites for residential and that's important of course, but we also need to protect the fewer sites for residential.

"The GLA are to be encouraged - some sites really should have been protected.

"For instance the old boatyard on 76 Grove Park Road has now been turned into residential usage. By making it residential it cuts off the place from the river."

"We've been here since 1963 - it was a back water then and an industrial area. Now they are building residentital, but the two just don't mix.

"When this first happened we lost 40 per cent of our business. We are waiting for the summer when people open their windows and hear the noise - there's very little we can do. We can't go anywhere else though, as by the river it is all built up. It's a constant struggle."

Nigel Moore, of Ridgeway Motors which has been there since 1947, added: "My company has been under pressure from property developers for a very long time - it was sold to me in those circumstances. They want to put a supermarket on my property and fill in the grid and repair service. They have shown me plans for the high street that go over my boatyard. If developers have their way boatbuilding will disappear forever. Five years seems a conservative estimate."

Many of the area's historic boatyards have already been forced out by development, including Town Wharf, the semi-derelict Lot's Ait, Ham Dock (now parking), Goat's Wharf and Ferry Lane (now housing), Scottish Widows, Durham Wharf (new housing), GT Steelcraft (housing), Morton Dock (future uncertain).

The London assembly will discuss the possibility of an investigation into the river on April 22, but even if given the go-ahead, the idea would not be implemented before the end of the year.

Roger Weston, chairman of the West London River Group and the chairman of the Thames Landscape strategy from Kew to Chelsea, welcomed the idea of an investigation: "Clearly if we want recreational use then we need somewhere for boat yards, but there's often not much money in those sort of things. Often the businesses are pressured to hand over sites for residential, but we also need to protect the fewer sites for residential. The GLA are to be encouraged - some sites really should have been protected."