FAQs

Please scroll through the list below for responses to some of the most frequently asked questions. If you don’t see yours here, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.

1. Where exactly is the site?
  • It is located on Bidder Street and borders East India Dock Road (the A13) to the South, the River Lea to the West and Mayer Parry Wharf to the North. It is a short walk to Canning Town and Star Lane stations and nearby to several local bus routes.
2. Who owns the site?
  • Barratt London has exchanged contracts to acquire the site. Barratt London is one of the UK’s leading housing developers. They have been awarded 5 Stars for quality homes from the Home Builders Federation for the 13th year in a row, more than any other major national housebuilder and have a track record of delivering really high quality, sustainable places to live and work in Newham.
3. How will this benefit existing residents?
  • Our proposals aim to provide something for everyone, this not only includes the new residents and working community that will be created here but our existing and future neighbours.
  • One of the most significant benefits this site will bring to the local area is the creation of new publicly accessible outdoor spaces and connections. The proposals will:
      • Unlock the Leaway Walk and create a new riverside pedestrian and cycle path to help better connect the site with the surrounding areas, including the public art route, and open it up to a wider variety of uses.
      • Create new green and high-quality landscaped public spaces with features such as a new community garden, integrated play spaces and places to sit, relax and work.
      • Significantly improve the streetscape along Wharfside Road and Bidder Street.
      • Significantly green the site to improve biodiversity, and support the health and wellbeing of the people that will come to live and work here.
    • The proposals will also deliver a number of really important economic benefits for the borough, including:
      • 2,600 sqm of new employment space that will help stimulate economic activity and create a variety of local jobs and employment opportunities.
      • This includes four new spaces for shops that can accommodate a new convenience store, a café, a restaurant or bar.
      • Increased spending in the local area from residents and workers at Crown Wharf
      • A significant CIL contribution which will be allocated towards improvements in the local area.
      • Around 600 jobs and local opportunities created through constriction and the new retail and workspaces.
      • 241 new affordable homes for residents in the Borough.
    4. How many homes are you providing?
    • We are proposing to deliver 871 new homes at Crown Wharf, all of which will be designed to an exemplary standard. This will include a significant number of new affordable homes, with 35% delivered at low-cost rent or shared ownership.
    5. Will there be any genuinely affordable homes?
    • Yes, absolutely. We are looking to create a genuinely mixed community with different tenure types, including a mix of shared ownership and London Affordable Rent homes. 184 homes will also be available for families.
    6. Isn’t this a former industrial site – why are you thinking of building more homes here?
    • This is a former industrial site, and we will be celebrating this by providing a significant amount – around 2,600 sqm – of new employment space for Newham’s makers, creators and innovators to use. We also want this to be a really lively and sustainable neighbourhood and think it is an excellent location for a new community. All of these uses are in line with the Local Newham Plan and the allocation for this particular site includes new homes to help meet the Borough’s housing targets.
    7. How tall are the buildings?
    • Over the past few months, we have done a lot of work refining the design and layout of our buildings. We have created a masterplan which sensitively responds to the surrounding area and local context. Buildings of around 8 storeys in height will knit into the existing landscape along Bidder Street and will then step up in height to around 14 storeys as you enter the new lively neighbourhood at Crown Wharf. Two feature buildings of 24 and 29 storeys will be located towards the southeast of the site. This part of the site sits within a Tall Building Zone, meaning it has been identified as a suitable location for buildings over 20 storeys by Newham Council.
    • We’ve carefully looked at key views to ensure the buildings are positioned in a way that preserves lots of natural sunlight and the tops of the feature buildings have also been designed as distinctive ‘crowns’ to celebrate the site’s name and history.
    8. Why have you proposed tall buildings here? Will this impact any neighbouring homes?
    • The site is located within a Tall Buildings Zone which is defined by the London Borough of Newham as somewhere suitable for buildings over 20 storeys. Our design team has carefully considered the height and massing here and we’re adopting an approach that places the tallest parts to the southeast of the site and steps down in height towards Bidder Street and our neighbours further to the north.
    • This approach takes into account a number of important factors, such as any impact on the daylight and sunlight of the new homes and public spaces, air quality, wind analysis and other developments coming forward locally.
    • Including taller buildings here also allows us to make even more of this amazing riverside site. It allows us to preserve nearly 50% of it for public and green spaces, provide the shops and employment space local people and the Council have told us this area needs and deliver more affordable housing for Newham.
    9. Will you be providing new green spaces?
    • Yes, approximately 50% of our site will be dedicated to public space with significant new green and landscaped spaces such as Lea Garden and the Riverside Garden. These new public spaces will feature a variety of planting to help encourage wildlife and biodiversity all year round as well as a new community garden.
    • The site will also more generally benefit from rewilding and landscaping, transforming what is today a predominantly concrete site into a new green, lively neighbourhood.
    10. Are you providing any parking here?
    • The development will be car free. This means that there will be no parking provided here, except for blue badge holders.
    • The site is in a really well-connected part of canning town, only a short walk to local tube and bus stations. The proposals will create new and improved pedestrian and cycle links which better connect this site to the surrounding area, helping to promote more sustainable modes of transport locally.
    • As part of our management strategy for the new site, all residents and workers will be made aware that there is no parking available and will not be eligible to apply for local parking permits. The potential for the development to provide dedicated spaces for an on-site car club is currently being explored.

    NEW QUESTIONS ADDED IN RESPONSE TO FEEDBACK FROM FIRST CONSULTATION:

    11. What impact will this have on local services such as doctors and dentists?
    • We will be submitting an Environmental Impact Assessment as part of the planning application which will assess the scheme’s impact on local infrastructure. This will be rigorously assessed by Newham Council and if they identify a need we will work with them to meet it through our financial S106 and Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) contributions.
    12. What safety and security measures will you be putting in place?
    • We have been working with the local police to ensure the scheme is Secured by Design, meaning that it will be a well-lit and thoughtfully designed place, with no dead ends or dark corners.
    • The residential buildings will help provide passive surveillance to the public areas, although we will also have an on-site team that will help manage and oversee the day-to-day, with a concierge in each of the apartment buildings. Crown Yard will also accommodate both day and night-time uses, keeping the public spaces active and helping to create a better sense of safety for residents, workers and visitors.
    • We will continue to consult with the police over the next few months and any designs submitted to Newham Council will need to be assessed and approved by them before any works start.
    13. What type of retail spaces are you proposing to provide here?
    • We have already heard from local people that the area is missing places to eat and drink and as a result have provided space for four new shops within the plans. We think these could be suitable for a new convenience store, a café, a restaurant or bar but we would like to continue to hear from you about what you would like to see here.
    14. What impact will this have on air pollution locally?
    • We will be submitting an Air Quality Assessment as part of the planning application. This will look at the existing context and pollution from local roads, but also what impact, if any, this development will have.
    • It is really important to us that what we build here is sustainable and built to last for future generations. This is one of the reasons why we are making this a car free development – encouraging people to adopt sustainable modes of transport to travel to and around the site. There will also be excellent provisions for cyclists with new parking spaces and a riverside cycle route. We will also be greatly improving the biodiversity across the site, with more trees and green landscaping, rain gardens, a community garden and other sustainable initiatives to make this a healthier place to live and work.
    15. What do local people think about the plans? What feedback have you received so far?
    • We held several events in May to hear what you thought about our vision for Crown Wharf as well as what you think this area is missing. Here’s some of the things you told us:
        • 80% of you either love or have a very positive first impression of our vision for a new neighbourhood here.
        • You like the idea of a new retail offer and want to know what kind of shops you might see here.
        • You support public access to the river and the creation of new public spaces.
        • You want more information on the affordable homes and if these will be available to local people
        • You feel that this area is missing places to eat and drink and you want Crown Wharf to be a destination to visit.
        • Some of you think that the area is missing outdoor sports facilities for young people, and this could be a good location to provide this.
        • You want to know how air pollution for both existing and future residents would be managed.
        • Some of you have concerns about safety and wanted more information on how new spaces would be managed.
        • Some of you want more information about building heights and how new residents might impact local services like trains and doctors.
      16. What changes have you made in response to public feedback from phase 1?
      • In phase 1 we heard from local people about their priorities for the area and their thoughts on our early proposals for the site. In response to this feedback, we have:
          • Prioritised four new spaces for shops and food and drink within the proposals
          • Set aside outdoor space that will be suitable for event days and market stalls
          • A continued commitment to deliver almost 50% of this site to public space
          • Used historic local references to inform our shop front designs, building materiality and architecture
          • Updated our FAQs with more detail about the scheme and how we’ll impact the local area
          • Provided more information on the homes, shops, outdoor spaces and buildings
          • Have gone to even greater efforts to promote our consultation events, with flyering at Canning Town station on morning and evening rush hours.
        17. When will you begin construction and when do you think this will be complete?

        • We are now holding a second stage of consultation ahead of submitting a planning application in September. We expect to receive a planning decision in late 2022 / early 2023 and, if our planning application is approved, start works on site in August 2023. Our estimated construction programme will take around five years, setting a completion date in 2028.

        18. How will these proposals reflect the heritage of the area?
        • The architecture and materials we use here should reflect the past and emerging future of Canning Town.
        • Canning Town has grown and evolved over time to include a range of different building styles and materials. Recent developments have changed the area from a place of large industrial warehouses to one with a more active community with homes, shops and office space. This variety and the history of the site means there is a fantastic array of local architecture for us to draw inspiration from for our own designs.
        • Along Bidder Street, we have done this by designing buildings which are predominantly red brick and inspired by the historic shop frontages that once existed here, creating a new lively street scene which draws people into the site.  Walking further into Crown Wharf, we have designed the buildings with a grey shaded brick and in a style that draws inspiration from the warehouse aesthetic that used to define this area. For the two taller feature buildings, we are designing the tops with distinctive ‘crowns’ to celebrate this site’s name and history.
        • At ground floor, we are also carefully looking at the public spaces and how we can celebrate and support this area’s cultural movement. Our site will connect directly onto ‘The Line’ art walk, and we are creating public spaces which could host art festivals and markets, and we are also providing flexible commercial space which could be used for independent makers and creators.
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