Landowners affected by the River Thames Scheme

Published: 16 April 2024

What surveys are happening?

Refer to the our survey work page for further information on what surveys are happening.

If you have any queries regarding surveys, please email: RTS.surveys@dalcourmaclaren.com

Members of the River Thames Scheme project team conducting some bird surveys.

What is the River Thames Scheme Lands team?

Dalcour Maclaren acts as the Scheme's land agents. Their role is to liaise and engage with Persons with an interest in Land (PiLs) to;

  • provide information and updates on the Scheme,
  • to negotiate with landowners to facilitate agreements to acuire the land required for the Scheme and
  • to arrange access for surveys on land required by the Scheme.

Land interest engagement

If you have a legal interest in land you are categorised as a PiL. Legal interests in land could include;

  • freehold ownership
  • a lease of the land or
  • if you hold rights over someone else's land.

If you fall into any of the above categories, we will contact you with information about the Scheme as the design evolves. If your land is required to be surveyed in developing the Scheme, we will contact you via phone or email to arrange access.

Following Statutory Consultation in early 2024, we will continue to engage with PiLs through regular communications. We will be able to provide scheme and design updates as we finalise our outline design ready to submit our Development Consent Order (DCO) in mid-2025.

Heads of Terms (HoTs) will be issued to landowners where the permanent or temporary acquisition of land or rights over land is needed to facilitate the Scheme and we are intending to begin issuing HoTs in Summer 2024. The HoTs are a non-binding agreement between parties forming the basis of a formal option agreement. The terms outline the eventual acquisition agreement including the pertinent terms for both parties, accompanied by a plan of the land affected.

Landowner engagement will continue leading up to our DCO application and during and after the examination of the DCO. If our DCO is confirmed, we will continue to engage with landowners into the construction phase of the project.

W e will engage in the form of site meetings, project updates through letters, emails and telephone calls and ongoing engagement for survey access where required. Please contact our land agents Dalcour Maclaren at rts@dalcourmaclaren.com if you have any queries relating to compensation and acquisition on the River Thames Scheme.

What do we mean by the scheme boundary or the Red Line Boundary (RLB)?

The RLB is a red line drawn around the area affected by the Scheme. It shows all the land required for the Scheme, whether that be land to be permanently acquired or land used temporarily for construction. All PiLs are contacted formally as part of the DCO process. If you are included in this boundary, you will have received and will continue to receive statutory notices, letters and information about the development of the Scheme. If you have not received any information regarding your property within the RLB and believe you could be a PiL, please contact us at rts@dalcourmaclaren.com.

Land referencing

As a PiL within the RLB, you should have received a Landowner Interest Questionnaire (LIQ). if you have not, please contact us at rts@dalcourmaclaren.com. The purpose of the LIQ is to establish anyone who might have a legal interest or ownership rights over land within the RLB.

The Planning Act 2008 requires us to identify all interests in land within the RLB. We do this by reviewing all detail held by the Land Registry. The LIQ is intended to obtain further information about any interests that are not recorded at the Land Registry, and to verify that the information held by Land Registry is correct or if it has changed recently. We must make reasonable efforts to ensure all interests are accurately recorded and represented in the Book of Reference and this process enables us to demonstrate that we have done this. It will ensure that we can engage with the right people.

As part of the referencing process and to further ensure efforts are made to identify all interested parties

Unregistered Site Notices (USNs) were erected and monitored for a period of six weeks. This process is particularly important where land is unregistered, where we have been unable to identify a suitable contact to send an LIQ to identify the legal interest. LIQs were also sent to adjacent landowners of unregistered parcels with the aim of obtaining further information about the unregistered land. The USNs contained a brief description of the Scheme and land plan detailing of the unregistered area as well as Dalcour Maclaren's contact details.

Section 48 notice

In advance of the period of Statutory Consultation, 21 January 2024 to 4 March 2024, you will have received a S48 notice (PDF) detailing where materials were available for consultation along with locations where you were able to view these materials and speak to members of the Scheme. During this period, you were invited to submit your consultation feedback through various channels including online forms, email, or post. S48 Site Notices were erected and monitored for a period of six weeks to allow owners and the holders of interests in unregistered land parcels (parcels not formally registered and recorded on Land Registry) to be identified and provide them an opportunity to take part in the consultation process. Generic notices were also erected to notify the wider public about the Scheme and the period of Statutory Consultation.

As we near the date when we intend to submit the DCO, confirmation schedules will be issued. These schedules are to confirm that we have the correct ongoing information for you and other PiLs and therefore reflect the most up to date information in our submission. Following a successful DCO decision, further Statutory Notices will be issued.

The scheme timelines and milestones

Refer to our development consent order page for further information on River Thames Scheme milestones and the forecast dates.

Notices and claimant process

The River Thames Scheme is being delivered in a partnership led by the Environment Agency and Surrey County Council. The process of serving notices and processing claims will be completed under the authority of the Environment Agency.

  1. What is a notice of entry?
  2. Why does the Environment Agency need to enter my land?
  3. When will this entry occur?
  4. Rights to claim

Who can I contact?

Should you have any specific questions regarding land access, claims or surveys, please get in touch with our land agents, Dalcour Maclaren:

RTS@dalcourmaclaren.com

Disclaimer: it should be noted that by contacting us through this email address you are allowing us to pass on your data to a third party within the scheme who may be best placed to answer your query. Your details will only be used for the purposes of the scheme.

Document history

Published: 16 April 2024

Updated: 07 May 2025

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