 Thurrock Development Corporation took over much of the borough's planning functions from its creation in 2005 until its demise in March 2011.Much of the population and commercial activity is centred along the riverfront.This includes many large and important industrial sites, including two large oil refineries, manufacturing industries, a container port, cruise liner terminal, distribution warehousing and one of Britain's largest refuse disposal sites at the appropriately named settlement of Mucking.