Rights of Way in Chelsea Harbour

Fed up with being run down by a cycle or scooter, or jumped on by a dog not on a lead?

Well both of those (cycling, dog not on a lead) appear to be against our bye-laws, as signposted around the Harbour. The problem is - nobody enforces the rules.

So I wrote to Sailesh Siyani (Head of Security at CHL) to ask what was/was not a public right of way and what enforceable rights do we have. Here is his reply, with two maps.

CHL letter on Rights of Way in Chelsea Harbour

Please see email from our team, who have been exploring this request in a lot more detail.

In brief summary:

Byelaws- we cannot find any byelaws that definitively apply to Chelsea Harbour. I have set out our findings below in more detail.
Public Rights of Way- the Thames Path is a public footpath running through the Chelsea Harbour estate. This is a national trail.

Other rights of way / potential rights of way are detailed below, including on the enclosed ‘Chelsea Harbour PLAN’.

Byelaws

The only byelaws that we have been able to locate so far can be found here on the Council website. These, however, do not appear relevant to Chelsea Harbour as they concern specific public parks and open spaces in the borough.

Chelsea Harbour is not referenced in these byelaws. We have asked the Council for further clarity and information but await a response from them.

Public Rights of Way

The Thames Path was declared a national trail in 1996 but had been developed over time for many years leading up to this. It is unclear when or how the Thames Path was created which passes through the Chelsea Harbour Estate. We could not find any evidence of there being a registered right of way (easement) against the freehold title for the Harbour for the Thames Path or of any agreements related to the Path.

Harbour Avenue is a public highway maintained by the local authority (see in grey on the plan attached). A cycle route runs along Harbour Avenue (see in yellow on attached plan).

Chelsea Harbour PLAN (attached) - please note routes indicated are only approximate.

Purple - The path around the harbour area. There is nothing to indicate this is a public path or that this is a public right of way, but it appears that the public are not stopped from walking here.

Blue - the Thames Path, a public footpath.

Green - another potential route of the Thames Path. The status of this path is not clear (whether or not it is a public footpath, etc). Falls within land owned by Chelsea Waterfront Limited.

Yellow- public cycle route.

Grey – public highway- Harbour Avenue.

Red – Thames Towpath.

We await further feedback from LBHF Highways.