The Vision of The Royal Docks

For someone who hasn’t ventured into this corner of East London before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. For many years we’ve been hearing about master plans and grand designs to regenerate these parts, most of which came to nothing. As a result, my “default” position as I entered Newham Council offices on that morning was to be a bit sceptical about the latest plans.

To set the scene for the site visit, we were given a presentation by Newham’s  infectiously enthusiastic Executive Director of Regeneration, Property and Planning Clive Dutton, followed by an equally up beat talk from the LDA’s Director of Land & Development Steve Kennard.

It is clear that Newham now have a coherent vision for this area and for the borough as a whole, and are serious about working towards making it a reality. The vision is big and bold, but not unrealistic. And it’s not just about the Olympics and the Westfield Shopping Centre. There is so much more going on. 

Clive and Steve have a good reason to be optimistic about the future of the Docks. Big things, which will undoubtedly act as a catalyst for the change in the area, are happening already. For example, Siemens are building a new European headquarters in the Royal Docks, which will include an exhibition/education centre, to showcase theirs and other tech companies’ latest technologies. Siemens could have gone anywhere, but chose to come here. University of East London is expanding its campus in the Royal Docks. The Excel Exhibition Centre has been extended recently and further increases in capacity are expected in the future. A number of blue chip companies are keen to locate in the area, which would enable it to become a tech hub. Numerous large residential schemes and hotels are in the pipeline already.

But they are not just focusing on physical regeneration of the area. For Newham, it’s all about jobs. Jobs for the locals, and jobs for London as a whole. Planning permissions are usually accompanied by agreements to secure training and job opportunities for the borough residents.

Thanks to a large land ownership interests in the area by Newham and the LDA, as well as their proactive partnership approach, the council is in a position to have a real influence and drive the change in the area.

During the two hour tour around the different very distinctive parts of the Royal Docks, the scale of the challenge becomes clear. Severance of different neighbourhoods, extreme social deprivation and isolation, complex site specific issues. But the scale of the potential and opportunities this part of London offers is equally clear. The future of the Royal Docks seems much brighter at this point.

A big thank you to Sam Friggens and Chetna Malvi for organising this.

Sakiba Gurda
LB Islington