The state of the garden

CTRL will open up an area of Kent that has been largely forgotten by developers. The strip of the north Kent coast between Dartford and Gravesend is only 25 miles from London, but has some of the slowest rail lines in the country and a landscape scarred by heavy industry.

David Joy, planning director at London & Continental Railways, says that a CTRL station will transform the fortunes of Kent Thameside. “The area has suffered for not having an economic driver. When Ebbsfleet International Station opens it will have a big impact on regeneration,” he says.

In 2009 the rail link will cut train journeys into London from 40 minutes to 17. As well as Eurostar trains, local trains will run from Ebbsfleet to St Pancras via Stratford on the CTRL track. Overnight, Ebbsfleet will become an important transport hub between the North Kent rail lines and the high-speed link.

Even before it has been built, CTRL has been a catalyst for change, most notably at Greenhithe, where Crest Nicholson has made the most of a river setting to turn a brownfield site into the award-winning housing development known as Ingress Park. Meanwhile, businesses are being attracted by the prospect of good value rents on London’s doorstep. For example, the business park at Crossways is complete and counts Laing O’Rourke among its occupiers (see map for details of the main development sites).

In 1999 the arrival of Bluewater, the apotheosis of the out-of-town shopping centre, helped to boost the profile of the area. Millions of shoppers visit ever year, attracted by handsome architecture and lush landscaping as much as the shopping.

Everybody involved in Kent Thameside wants to reproduce the quality of Bluewater and Ingress Park in future developments. Tim Seddon, development director at Land Securities, says investment in the quality of E E the sites will attract residents and raise the value of property. “The one thing common to every scheme is the quality of the design and place. It will underscore everything we do and anybody working here will have the same aspirations,” he says.

Land Securities is developing many sites in the Kent Thameside area including the 300 ha Eastern Quarry, which will start on site in 2008. This mixed-use scheme, which includes 7250 homes, is being masterplanned by Bluewater architect Eric Kuhne. He is keen to create an environment organised around the wellbeing of its residents. “We’re not interested in making stakeholders rich at the cost of destroying neighbourhoods,” says Kuhne, who is banning supermarkets in favour of cornershops, and large highways in favour of bus routes.

He says nearly all the needs of residents will be met in the Eastern Quarry’s Market Centre, which will contain schools, businesses, health and leisure facilities and up to 200 shops. Kuhne says the clustering of amenities will increase the number of people visiting the centre, reinforce the area’s sense of community and provide customers for the small shops. “People meet each other more often when they walk,” says Kuhne. “As soon as they get in cars the only contact they have is with the radio.”

The buildings at Eastern Quarry will adhere to a design code, and this will mean they have the same restrained chalky white palette as Bluewater. The greening of the old chalk quarry is also a priority. Kuhne says the site will have large lakes and an “exuberance” of parks and civic displays. Triple rows of trees will line either side of a dedicated bus route called Fastrack, which will take passengers to Dartford, Gravesend and Ebbsfleet.

The first phase of Fastrack is due to open in early 2006 and will eventually connect Ebbsfleet International Station with the rest of Kent Thameside. Ian Lindsay, acting chief executive of regeneration body Kent Thameside, says that Fastrack is designed to lure people away from their cars. “It’s important that it is there from the beginning,” he says. “Once people get into the habit of moving around by car, the harder it is to get them back to public transport.” Forty per cent of Fastrack will run on dedicated bus routes to minimise delays in the service.

Lindsay says Fastrack will help link Dartford and Gravesend into the new developments. “They are important destinations,” he says. “It’s important that we invest in existing town centres to serve the needs of their populations.”

Other projects designed to boost the towns’ prospects are waterfront projects in north-east Gravesend and The Bridge in Dartford, which will contain 1500 homes and 140,000 m2 of business space.

The link to Dartford and Gravesend is also important because the stakeholders do not want to build a dormitory town for London – they want businesses to relocate to Kent Thameside to provide local employment. As a gateway to London and the Continent, Kuhne says Ebbsfleet Valley will attract European firms who want a foothold in the UK without having to pay high London rents. The business parks around Ebbsfleet station would also be a draw for the back offices of large London firms, says Land Sec’s Seddon. And Kuhne points out that the area would also be ideal for health facilities, which could provide services for the ageing population on the Continent.

Over the next 20 years, 22 square miles of Kent will be planted with 30,000 homes, more than 50,000 jobs, and 15 million ft2 of commercial buildings. And the opening of Ebbsfleet International Station in two years will give all the developers a tremendous boost. Seddon is confident of the area’s future success: “With the public transport in place it’s a compelling story …”