Politics, transport and floods overshadow Thames Gateway

Grand plans to regenerate the Thames Gateway were thrashed out at the eponymous forum last week but experts raised fears that the giant scheme could run into problems.

QSs, project managers and others playing key roles in the region’s development, including London Mayor Ken Livingstone, agreed that the top issues for the Gateway were transport, flood protection and preparation for the 2012 Olympics.

But there was disagreement at the two-day event on exactly what should be achieved in transport, how serious the flood risk is and the overall management of the region.

Jon Rouse, chief executive of the Housing Corporation, called for a single boss to oversee all development in the Thames Gateway. He argued this figurehead should be supported by a team of four or five gurus with experience of large and successful regeneration projects in countries such as Spain and the Netherlands.

He warned: “In the Thames Gateway we lack coherence and overall strategy. We don’t have the conditions for economic success right now in the area.”

Mark Hirst, director of planning at Capita Symonds, told QS News: “There are 26 agencies involved with the Gateway. It can be a nightmare just knowing who you need to consult. Just saying we are going to build 260,000 homes is not enough. There has to be a strategy.”

It can be a nightmare just knowing who you need to consult

Mark Hirst, director of planning, Capita Symonds

But Richard Simmons, chief executive of CABE and Olympics interim director of design, was sceptical towards the idea of a Thames Gateway boss: “I’m not convinced we need a chief executive. We have local democracy in the Thames Gateway working well. To take that away and put it in the hands of one person (would mean) they would be seen as a dictator.”

Transport was another issue that stirred up delegates. Ken Livingstone urged the government to give the go-ahead to the Crossrail scheme. He said: “This thing is sequential. We can do the Lower Lea Valley without Crossrail, but if we want to open up the area’s full potential we must have Crossrail. I am delighted that the Olympics, this great sword of Damocles, hangs over the government. They can’t not go ahead with this now.”

Meanwhile, Faithful & Gould is advocating a super speed train for which it has conducted a feasibility study. The £30bn project would allow passengers to travel from the Thames Gateway to Birmingham in 30 minutes, Manchester in 50 Minutes and Glasgow in 160 minutes. The system uses magnetic levitation to reach a speed of up to 500kph.

Ian Metcalfe, F&G’s director for the South East, said the scheme would transform the economy of both the Thames Gateway and the country, vastly improving access to air travel and effectively creating “airport UK”.

Some Gateway experts at the forum criticised the cost of the scheme and doubted it would get off the ground. Livingstone has so far failed to support the idea.

If we want to open up the area’s full potential we must have Crossrail

Ken Livingstone, Mayor of London

However, UK Ultraspeed, the company running the project, presented its proposals to Tony Blair last month and the project’s leader, Alan James, expressed high hopes that the scheme would get the government’s sign-off.

The issue of flood risk also drew fire from the Mayor. Livingstone said: “If we were so stupid as to not start planning a new Thames barrier then, yes, there would be a risk. But we are not going to plan to build homes for the best part of a quarter of a million people in areas that will flood.”

Chris Roberts, leader of Greenwich Council, said some of the talk of flood risk was “alarmist”. “Some areas are more vulnerable than others. The further you move down the Gateway (towards the sea) the greater the risk.”

Capita Symonds has been commissioned by the Environment Agency to work on an EU-funded project to explore flood defence options for the Thames Gateway. A Capita spokeswoman admitted that options on the drawing board included “realignment” – in other words moving away from areas at risk of flooding. But other proposals were flood walls and stepped defences, which would include walkways featuring terraces that could be allowed to flood safely. “We are trying to make sure developers incorporate these techniques into their plans,” she said.