School plan for derelict factory

By admin on April 18, 2007 12:00 AM

DEVELOPERS have once again returned to the table with plans for a derelict margarine factory site.
And Ballymore hopes the alterations to towers, parking and disabled facilities at Leamouth Peninsula North will be enough to butter up council planners.
The ambitious proposals for Orchard Place have been the subject of debate for more than three years.

The site is to be transformed with thousands of units, including homes, offices, a primary school, arts and community facilities and a bridge crossing the River Lea.
The proposed pedestrian and cycle bridge would connect the isolated area to Canning Town, linking Tower Hamlets to Newham.
Ballymore hopes to create a waterfront community and "transform under-utilised land at the gateway to the Lower Lea Valley into a stunning and unique place which has a strong identity and sense of place".
But its last attempt to transform the site was rubbished by Tower Hamlets Council in 2006, who claimed it failed to create a mixed community, was an over-development of the land and lacked public and private open space.
Ballymore's revised application sees the development being phased in gradually, with disabled access to the site improved and cycle parking provision increased from 34 per cent to 100 per cent of the units.
The number of units has been decreased by 114 to 1,663. Three of the buildings have been reduced in height by two metres, but a fourth building has increased in height by one metre to accommodate larger ceilings for the proposed arts centre.
The derelict land was formerly occupied by Pura Foods, which relocated in 2005.
A final decision will be made by the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation. kay.harrison@wharf.co.uk
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