News on Thamesmead and Abbey Wood Framework

The Thamesmead and Abbey Wood OAPF has been adopted by the Mayor of London as supplementary guidance to the London Plan. Thank you to those who have taken the time to speak to us and participated in the consultation. All the feedback we've received has been carefully reviewed to help shape the final adopted OAPF.

Click here to see the adopted OAPF and to find out more.

Background

Fifty years since the conception of Thamesmead as an ambitious ‘New Town’ by the Greater London Council, the Thamesmead and Abbey Wood Opportunity Area Planning Framework (T&AW OAPF) seeks to revitalise the area’s ambition by building a case for the delivery of the final pieces of the puzzle: transport links and a planned approach to social and community uses. Prepared jointly by the GLA, Transport for London (TfL), Royal Borough of Greenwich and London Borough of Bexley, the OAPF supports and plans for the Mayor’s proposal to extend the DLR to Thamesmead and beyond. With transport improvements, the OAPF identifies the potential to provide more than 15,000 new homes and 8,000 new jobs.

Funding

The transport improvements considered in the OAPF are currently unfunded. Delivering major new public transport schemes is partly dependent on the scale of new growth. As development in the T&AW OA is intrinsically linked to the delivery of strategic public transport connections, new public transport is needed to support housing and employment growth, and vice versa. By illustrating how significant new development can align with Good Growth principles, the T&AW OAPF contributes to a strong case for the investment needed.

Next stages

TfL and partners have begun feasibility work on extending the DLR into Thamesmead. See the full press release here.

The feasibility work will be fully funded by external partners through a £1m joint funding agreement between the London Borough of Newham, Royal Borough of Greenwich and developers at Thamesmead Waterfront (a joint venture partnership between Peabody and Lendlease), Aberdeen Standard Investments and St William (a joint venture between Berkeley Homes and National Grid).

This next stage of technical work will allow further development of the route and the potential locations of stations to be considered. Support work on other transport options within the OAPF will also be carried out including options for a rapid bus corridor and new walking and cycling links. Further assessments on both the potential environmental and transport impacts of these schemes will ensure that the best options to support growth in the area are taken forward once appropriate funding has been identified and secured.