Scheme was called in after being rejected by Newham council last year

Foster & Partners’ masterplan for a major new Thameside neighbourhood at Silvertown in east London has been approved.

London’s deputy mayor for planning Jules Pipe last week resolved to grant planning permission for the new masterplan at a public hearing. Pipe called the scheme in in late 2019 after Newham council refused it planning citing worries over infrastructure.

Pipe, a former mayor of Hackney and opponent of the original plans to overhaul Bishopsgate Goodsyard in Shoreditch with a series of skyscrapers, said the Silvertown plan was “exactly the kind of site we need to intensify if we are to deliver the homes Londoners need”, adding that no more than 1,700 homes should be built before the DLR station opens.

THAMESIDE WEST

The scheme will include 5,000 homes

Called Thameside West, the scheme is a 5m sq ft mixed-use development planned by Keystone and GLA Land & Property (GLAP).

The project will provide 5,000 new homes, of which 1,700 will be affordable, more than 19,000m2 of workspace and 7,000m2 of retail and leisure space.

> Foster’s £3bn east London revamp in for planning

The project will include 5.7 acres of public open space, including a new four-acre riverside park and Thameside walkway, a new DLR station, primary school, nursery and other community facilities.

The decision to give Thameside West the go-ahead means Keystone and GLAP can kickstart the development with the first phase, which consists of 401 mixed-tenure homes and 35,000ft2 of workspace.

The first phase has been designed by John McAslan & Partners and approved in detail.