£500m Royal Arsenal development

A £500m plan to transform the Royal Arsenal in Woolwich into a 25-acre “metropolis” is unveiled today.

The plans include 3,000 new homes and commercial spaces including a cinema, a 120-bedroom hotel, bars and restaurants. Built-up areas will be complemented by amenity space, parkland and a riverside promenade.

It is the first scheme unveiled since developer Berkeley Homes announced its intention to focus on urban regeneration rather than commercial housebuilding.

If successful, it will also kickstart ambitious plans for the Thames Gateway to provide up to 120,000 new homes for key workers and help reduce pressure on house prices.

However, at present the proportion of affordable homes being built in the development is just over a third, less than the Mayor’s stated target of 50 per cent.

The site is in Greenwich, between Berkeley’s existing riverside development and Woolwich town centre. The new project is designed around the Thames waterfront, a new commercial square and public open spaces. It will be accessible from a new DLR station, planned as part of the £150 million extension of the Docklands Light Railway approved by the Government in February.

The Mayor’s London Plan was approved at the same time, designating Woolwich as one of 14 “areas for intensification” of development.

The local community will benefit through proposals for a new children’s theatre, nursery and health facilities and public open spaces.

Plans will provide pedestrian pathways and encourage greater use of bicycles and public transport-Gareth Blacker of the Mayor’s London Development Agency said: “This scheme will play a key part in the transformation of Woolwich and of the Thames Gateway as a whole. By fully integrating with the rest of Woolwich, it will act as a catalyst for future regeneration.”

Founded in 1671, the Royal Arsenal was once Britain’s largest centre for the manufacture and storage of military equipment.

It closed as the home of the Royal Artillery in the early Nineties and was put up for sale by the Ministry of Defence in 1993.