Wood Wharf Plans Get The Go-Ahead

Wood Wharf, the major waterside development to the east of Canary Wharf, was granted planning consent by Tower Hamlets' Strategic Development Committee last week. Wood Wharf Partnership, a joint venture between Canary Wharf Group, British Waterways and Ballymore Group, was granted consent for a mixed-use scheme at the 17-acre site comprising 4.9m sq ft of offices and 1,668 homes. The development will also include retail and leisure space, a hotel and a park.

Designed by architects Rogers, Stirk, Harbour & Partners with landscape architects Martha Schwartz Partners, plans include six commercial buildings and six residential buildings, including 35 per cent affording housing. Due to be developed in phases over the next 10 to 15 years, Wood Wharf is expected to create 25,000 new jobs.

The scheme will include a record £153 million Section 106 agreement, including: a £100 million financial contribution towards the Crossrail project, to pay for construction of the Isle of Dogs Crossrail station on an island site  to the north of Bank of America's headquarters; £9 million towards DLR improvements; and £5 million towards bus improvements.

Speaking of what has been described as ‘one of the world's finest urban waterfront quarters', Aman Dalvi, Chief Executive, Gateway to London said: "Investment into transport and  the creation of jobs at Wood Wharf will provide huge benefits to London Thames Gateway. A good transport infrastructure is critical to business growth; I am delighted to see that a three-pronged transport investment will be implemented to service commuters travelling to and from Wood Wharf, the UK's future leading commercial centre."

Construction of Crossrail, which received Royal Assent in July, is expected to start in 2010 and become operational by 2017, with a capacity of 200 million persons a year.