Ken Livingstone has published a planning framework for Waterloo which aims to overturn the “poor overall planning and design” of several decades to regenerate the area for tourism and business.
According to the Mayor’s office the Waterloo planning framework will be the blueprint for the sustainable regeneration of the area over the coming decades, bringing thousands of new homes and jobs and placing a clear emphasis on the importance of outstanding design.
The area covered by the Framework includes Waterloo station and the South Bank from St Thomas’s Hospital to Gabriel’s Wharf. This is identified as an ‘opportunity area’ in the Mayor’s London Plan, meaning it has great potential to provide new homes and jobs.
Proposals include the reworking of the IMAX roundabout to create “an attractive new city square where local people and visitors will want to gather” and encouraging the development of new world-class buildings around and above the station, harnessing the area’s potential to provide thousands of new homes and jobs.
Mayor Livingstone, said ‘Waterloo welcomes millions of people to London every year. It is also the gateway to the South Bank, one of the world’s leading cultural centres, which has recently been subject to a multi-million pound makeover to ensure it retains its unique status as one of London’s most popular attractions. It is vital that we improve the attractiveness of the station and its surroundings, making the most of the whole neighbourhood and stitching all of its individual parts together.”
“We can only achieve this through careful planning over the next generation. If we can do this, the prize will be thousands of new homes and jobs for Waterloo and great improvements to its layout and public space, making it more attractive, vibrant and easier to get around.”
The framework has been backed by Ted Inman, Chief Executive of South Bank Employers’ Group who said “We represent fifteen major organisations in the Waterloo area and we all want to see better public realm and business growth.”
“The new jobs proposed in the Framework will benefit London, the local economy and those living in deprived areas nearby. We hope the adopted Framework will be a springboard for economic success, public realm improvements and community benefit.”
