Tower Hamlets Council has approved media tycoon Richard Desmond’s £1 billion Westferry Printworks scheme in east London, following a series of attempts.
Desmond’s Northern & Shell has been granted approval to build the 6.1-hectare major regeneration scheme in London’s Docklands.
The site was formerly the largest printing works in Europe until the business relocated in 2011.
Located on the north bank of the Thames, the redevelopment aims to bring 1,358 homes, with 35 per cent to be affordable.
Designed by PLP architecture, the brownfield site is planned to blend residential, educational, and communal spaces, with a focus on connectivity and sustainability.
Mace has led the project from the planning stage, through demolition and construction delivery, and into occupation, with subcontractor Erith having begun demolition work on the site.
The council previously turned down plans in 2016 only to then be overruled by former prime minister Boris Johnson, however the development still did not go ahead, according to the BBC.
The project was then at the centre of controversy, after it was reported that the government turned down plans in 2021. According to the BBC the government reversed a decision made in 2020 by then housing secretary, Robert Jenrick.
Desmond founded Northern & Shell in 1994, which published the Daily Express newspapers, OK! and Star magazines, as well as operating the UK’s Health Lottery, with the company moving into property development as its primary focus in 2016.
Regarding the plans, the Government had previously said the proposal would “cause harm to the character and appearance of the area” by extending the Canary Wharf cluster of tall buildings, which would “have an adverse impact in terms of the transition in scale” to the neighbouring residential areas.
In addition to hundreds of new homes, the soon-to-be Westferry Printworks development will also bring to the area a secondary school, two hectares of open public space, a police base, services, shops and other businesses.
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