Decision on £1bn Convoys Wharf delayed

A decision on whether the £1bn Convoys Wharf redevelopment gets the go-ahead has been delayed a month after the developer agreed to make changes to Farrells’ masterplan.

London mayor Boris Johnson had been expected to make a ruling in the next week on the scheme in Deptford, south-east London, but Hutchison Whampoa said it now expected this to be at the end of March.

Johnson agreed to become the planning authority last October after the developer wrote to him and said local authority Lewisham council was taking too long to make a decision.

Earlier this year, the council told Johnson to reject the scheme unless Hutchison Whampoa made major changes.

Now the developer has said that it has made “significant concessions” to the scheme following a meeting with the Greater London Authrority. These include offering space for a horticultural project along with a scheme to build a replica wooden warship from the 17^th century called the Lenox project.

“We have made further revisions to our masterplan to address issues raised by local groups,” a spokesman for the developer said. “By moving the school, creating new space for a John Evelyn horticultural centre, lowering the height of a building on the boundary adjacent to the listed Shipwright’s House and offering the wharf site for the Lenox project, we have made significant concessions.”

He added: “We believe the way is now clear for the mayor of London to determine our application, hopefully by the end of March.”

But a spokesman from campaign group Deptford Is said the developer needed to do more to win locals round. “They are the smallest changes you can imagine. They feel they’ve done enough but it’s not over yet,” he said.

Hutchison Whampoa’s proposals include 3,500 homes and three towers of up to 40 storeys in height on a 16.6ha site.

This story first appeared on Building Design