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London’s biggest development at Greenwich Peninsula given go-ahead

The Royal Borough of Greenwich Planning Board has given the green light to a landmark planning application for a £8.4bn project, set to create tens of thousands of new homes and jobs.

At a meeting on yesterday, the board granted outline planning permission to developers Knight Dragon for a development including 13,000 new homes, two new schools, a new North Greenwich transport hub, new community and health facilities and a new 40,000-square-metre film studio.

The development will create 13,000 new homes and more than 12,000 new jobs. The decision, subject to agreement by the Mayor of London, gives the go-ahead for 13,000 new homes, bringing a total of nearly 16,000 new homes, of which almost 4,000 are affordable, to the Peninsula

The project also involves the demolition and complete rebuild of the North Greenwich tube and bus station allowing for more bus capacity.

In addition, a new 40,000-square-metre film studio will be built, creating 1,500 new jobs, along with 60,000 square metres of new business space.

Agreement of the planning application also secures £110-£115m funding for community benefits through the Section 106 agreement and the Community Infrastructure Levy.

Councillor Denise Hyland, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich said: “This is an historic day for Greenwich Peninsula and without doubt, this is one of the most exciting developments in London - of great significance to the capital as a whole, as well as to our borough.

“This scheme will bring the long-term regeneration of Greenwich Peninsula to fruition, cementing what is a whole new district for London providing housing and jobs for tens of thousands of people and landmark new facilities and buildings.

“I know there are very real concerns about the scale of this development and those have been fully considered during the decision making process. The board felt that the plans are right for the area and for London as a whole, providing so many new homes at a time of a critical shortage in London.

“Yes, some of the buildings are tall, but these are mainly situated to the north just opposite Canary Wharf with towers that will dwarf the Peninsula structures. It is also important that where a large number of new buildings are proposed the infrastructure and layout is right and we feel this development will deliver a hugely enhanced environment.”

Councillor Danny Thorpe, Royal Borough of Greenwich Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Transport said: “There are so many different strands to this development masterplan - all of which make a huge contribution to the regeneration of the borough as a whole. Greenwich Peninsula is one of the council’s significant growth and regeneration areas and the benefits of this far-reaching development will filter across the borough and London as a whole.

“This is an ambitious vision for an extremely exciting site which not only delivers thousands of new homes but two new schools and a reworked transport hub - the infrastructure as a whole at the Peninsula will be vastly improved and we’ve secured funding to make it work for the larger numbers of people who will live at the Peninsula.

“It’s one of London’s leading destinations in an extremely attractive location on the River. The council has long held a vision to make the most of the huge potential offered by the Peninsula and it’s brilliant that this paves the way for that potential to be fully realised.

“It brings what regeneration should - new homes and facilities for local people, thousands of new jobs, and it puts to excellent use a large site which until a few years ago was empty contaminated land.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .