Nine Elms regeneration 'to create brand new district' for London - Mayor

The last remaining major development area in central London is to be transformed into a brand new district for the capital, with 16,000 new homes, up to 25,000 new jobs and major new transport links, the Mayor Boris Johnson has announced.

Over the next two decades and beyond, nearly 200 hectares of derelict and under used land in the Nine Elms area, stretching from Vauxhall to Battersea Power Station, will be regenerated into new communities, with green open spaces.

New proposed transport links include a pedestrian and cycle bridge linking Nine Elms to Pimlico across the river and an extension to the Northern Line.

The plans are published in a new planning framework for Nine Elms which also proposes:

• Permitting tall buildings on the site where they are appropriate and do not compromise the setting of the Palace of Westminster
• A new park for residents accommodating a range of uses including allotments linking to the food economy at New Covent Garden
• New pedestrian and cycle networks
• Better designed homes and communities bringing relief to an area suffering from multiple levels of deprivation
• A decentralised energy network connecting to other existing and planned district heating networks at Pimlico, Whitehall and Westminster

The framework acknowledges that both the proposal to relocate the U.S. Embassy to Nine Elms, and the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station and New Covent Garden Market are key to successful regeneration of the area.

However, it also underlines the importance of a private sector-led extension of the Northern Line from Kennington to Battersea via Nine Elms to provide the missing public transport link to the site.

To support this, the Mayor has made clear in revised supplementary guidance to the London Plan on Crossrail contributions that office development in Vauxhall and Nine Elms will not be covered by these policies and exempt from the levy. Instead, contributions are likely to be sought from all new developments towards funding of the Northern Line Extension.

The revised Crossrail guidance also includes measures to boost development in London by providing an incentive for work to start on new schemes. It proposes a 20% discount on the Crossrail levy for new office developments, along the project’s route, which are granted planning permission and start work during the three year period after the new policy is formally published next Summer.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: "This vision represents the final piece of the jigsaw that completes the central area of London. Although we are currently in a downturn, the area as it stands will, in the coming decades, deliver a substantial number of new homes and new jobs.

"The regeneration of Vauxhall and Nine Elms now is hugely significant in allowing us to support the economic growth of the whole of the capital, and, with the other major regeneration projects like the Olympic Park and Kings Cross taking shape, the prosperity and the role of our great city in the world is assured.

"More than that, this neglected area which for years has failed to fulfil its potential, and is disconnected from surrounding neighbourhoods, will become a thriving new quarter for living, leisure and business and an easily accessible destination for Londoners and visitors."