Southwark Liberal Democrats Berate Oceandiva Executives at Fiery Meeting

Southwark Liberal Democrats slammed Oceandiva executives for their potentially disruptive, super party boat at a volatile council meeting on Wednesday night.

North Bermondsey politicians Cllr Rachel Bentley and Cllr Emily Tester vouched that they were on residents’ side at the ward meeting that had around 70 attendees.

They also repeated concerns that the boat could bring noise and anti-social behavior to the Shad Thames area, which residents echoed angrily throughout the ward meeting.

The forum followed on from North Bermondsey councillors receiving hundreds of objections from constituents on the “largest floating events space on the Thames.”

Many residents, who complained in the meeting about a lack of community engagement, argued that noise is already a problem in Shad Thames.

They criticised Oceandiva for not guaranteeing that it would never disembark at 10:30pm at Butler’s Wharf pier in Shad Thames.

The Oceandiva execs at the meeting said the boat was likely to host 400-to-500 passengers who could depart from the boat at the North Bermondsey pier.

Although, the boat is the length of a football pitch and can host up to 1,500 guests for its events.

When pressed on how they would deal with disembarkation, Oceandiva representatives said they submitted a pier management plan to the Metropolitan Police on Wednesday.

This means they submitted the plan, staggeringly, a month after they sent in their licensing application.

One resident said:
“It is a conservation area and it is very, very narrow and dense…and you want to chuck 600 people into one narrow street…I don’t think you really care.”

Oceandiva is applying for a license from Newham Council as this is where the boat will be moored for the majority of the time.

Newham would also subsequently be responsible for any regulation of licensing conditions, with Oceandiva offering a direct phone line to the public for noise complaints.

But, the Southwark Liberal Democrats pointed out that this did not provide enough clarity as to who will enforce any licensing issues that occur outside of Newham.

Commenting, Cllr Rachel Bentley, Southwark Liberal Democrat member for the North Bermondsey ward said:

“We have grave concerns about the disruption that Oceandiva could bring to our local area as well as on the wider communities who live along the Thames. The owners and operators of Oceandiva have been trying to bring their super luxury events vessel to London for many years and need to respect residents’ repeated message that it is not wanted. This mega boat could have an unprecedented impact on Shad Thames in terms of noise, nuisance and anti-social behaviour.”