24 CASE STUDY
extending the Gospel Oak to Barking Line, and the team are soon to start work on a new pier for a Thames Clipper Uber Boat river taxi, both of which are expected to dramatically increase connectivity into central London.
BEGINNINGS David Watkinson, planning, design and communications director at BRL explains his role as “envisaging the place being created, and engaging the people we need to create it with,” which includes oversee- ing design, master planning, statutory consents, placemaking, communications and events for the project.
Going back to the genesis of the project, he explains that though the scheme began in the late 2000s, the current Barking Riverside JV wasn’t formed until 2016 – in order to ramp up housing delivery on the site to over 600 homes a year. According to David, it has been “an
BARKING RIVERSIDE LONDON HAS LED THE PLANNING PROCESS, PREPARING MASTERPLANS AND DESIGN CODES FOR 1500-2000 HOMES AT A TIME ACROSS THE SITE
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incredibly collaborative” project from the get go, with “continuous input” from stakeholders including the JV partners, Homes England, Transport for London (TfL), the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, and, “crucially,” David adds, “local people.” Currently, the plot developers L&Q and Bellway homes are involved in the construction of residential and commercial builds, while the design process is being led by the architecture and urban design firm Lifschutz Davidson Sandilands.
BIG PLANS
Being such a large scale project, Barking Riverside has been underpinned by a rolling programme of masterplanning, land use, and other regulatory consents. The original site-wide planning permission was granted in 2007, based on a proposed extension of the Docklands
Light Railway from Beckton, but the DLR line was ultimately unviable. To ensure sustainable transport to the site, BRL worked with TfL to secure and part-fund the extension to the London Overground network which was consented under a Transport and Works Act Order in 2017. A new site-wide planning application was then prepared and submitted in tandem, and the team are now working under the most recent revisions to this which were consented in 2018. BRL has led this planning process across the site, preparing masterplans and design codes for 1500-2000 homes at a time. David explains further how this works: “We and our plot developers then prepare reserved matters applications for 180-200 homes beneath these and do so with the confidence that these sit within the consented scheme.”
“The approach is similar to some of the models being proposed in the Government’s recent planning white paper, and promotes confidence and allows for faster delivery.”
UNDER PRESSURE
David tells me that one of the biggest challenges for a scheme of this size and complexity has been “ensuring that the place you deliver at the end successfully and authentically responds to the people who will actually live and work there.” He says there’s already a “thriving
community” living in Barking Riverside and the neighbouring Thames View district, and once completed the project will have increased the population by more than 30,000, as well as brought many new businesses to the area. As such, David tells me there is “huge pressure” to get this right for current and future residents.” “We know all too well that simply building houses and facilities doesn’t
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