Curious how quickly things get forgotten...
There used to be a water aerodrome marked on charts off Chatham a few years ago so flying off the Thames is by no means unprecedented. Is that aerodrome still there? If not when did it "go"?
LCY was forced to ban helicopters in its planning stages to satisfy the NIMBYS. Simple as that. Windsheer (sic) indeed! Since when were helicopters particularly susceptible to that?