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Introduction to Silvertown

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Introduction to Silvertown

Silvertown sits in the centre of one of London’s largest regeneration areas, the Royal Docks, which is set to become the home and workplace for thousands of people. Located alongside Royal Victoria Dock (London Borough of Newham), the previously derelict site spans 27 hectares and is bordered by Mill Road to the west, North Woolwich Road to the south, and Connaught Bridge to the east. The site includes key heritage buildings, including Millennium Mills and Silo-D. 

The previous project owners received outline planning permission for the masterplan in 2016. Under new ownership of The Silvertown Partnership (Lendlease and Starwood Capital), Phase 1 of the site subsequently received detailed permission in 2019 following public consultation. This included the provision of new affordable and private for sale homes, public spaces, retail space, and workspaces, anchored by Millennium Mills and Silo D. 

Previous Illustrative Masterplan showing different character areas across the Silvertown site.

Elements of the previously consented master plan included: 

Millennium Mills: The area surrounding Millennium Mills will be one of the intensely animated areas of Silvertown and the major cultural draw for visitors.

Silo-D: The area around Silo-D will support a vibrant residential neighbourhood that will encapsulate all of London’s independence, variety, and life. Creating an exciting mix of independent shops, social spaces, cafés, and restaurants spilling out onto the park and public spaces, the new public park will provide a place to rest, supplemented by activation from local events.

Brand buildings: Brand buildings will include a vibrant mix of workplace, cultural use, Research & Development space, retail, and exhibition areas much of which will be publicly accessible and curated to attract visitors to Silvertown.

New homes: Silvertown will create a new diverse and inclusive community right in the heart of the Royal Docks with outline planning permission to build approximately 3,000 mixed-tenure homes.

The eastern part of the masterplan will be a residential quarter including larger family homes clustered around community facilities such as a new primary school. The western part of the site will predominately provide smaller homes more suited to the vibrant town centre environment.

New shops, café, and restaurants: The masterplan will include new shops, cafes and restaurants that will provide a heart for the local community and places to meet friends and neighbours.

Public spaces: Silvertown will create a range of new public spaces and parks, creating a welcoming environment that provides opportunities for recreation and leisure.

The waterscape will be re-invigorated with planting that reflects the diverse history of people and place in the area, and activation through improved access and interventions such as boardwalk, decks and water sports.

Employment opportunities: Silvertown will build on the industrious past of the docks to incubate local talent, grow local jobs, and attract those who work hard.

Most of these elements will be retained in the new masterplan, with a few key revisions that respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and feedback from consultation in 2019. More detail can be found on the next page.


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Where are we now?

We have been hard at work updating our previous proposals to directly respond to a post-pandemic urban life while ensuring that we can deliver a mixed-use development that includes homes, offices, and jobs, alongside retail, leisure, community, and cultural uses. 

As a part of our next steps for the regeneration of the site, we will be preparing three planning applications: 

  1. New Hybrid Masterplan Planning Application: This application includes a detailed component for Phase 1 (previously consented) and an outline component for the remainder of the site. The new hybrid masterplan will allow us to deliver on our ambitions to create a unique and thriving mixed use neighbourhood in the Royal Docks while responding to the challenges of Covid-19 on how we live and experience cities. Amendments will deliver more affordable housing more quickly and important social infrastructure, including a new primary school. You can find out more about this application by visiting the dedicated exhibition and feedback page here. 
  2. New Royal Victoria Dock Bridge Planning Application: This application aims to deliver a new pedestrian and cycling bridge linking Silvertown to the north of Royal Victoria Dock and Custom House Station for the DLR and Elizabeth Line. You can find out more about this application by visiting the dedicated page here. Feedback on the new RVDB closed in April 2022. We received an incredible 155 feedback forms with plenty of feedback that has been considered and responded to as part of the imminent planning application submission.
  3. Dock Infill Reserved Matters Planning Application: This application aims to create new waterways from the existing dock and allow for land reclamation for plots within Phase 1 to deliver more housing, including affordable housing, and public space. This application was submitted in February 2022.

We hosted two community exhibitions in early March 2022 at Expressway London. You can find the exhibition boards in PDF format here. They include further information about regeneration in the Royal Docks, Silvertown’s story, and the three planning applications to be submitted this year. 

On June 25, 2022, we hosted a Community Day on the Silvertown site just outside of Millennium Mills. We exhibited the latest proposals for Silvertown’s New Hybrid Masterplan and were collecting initial feedback on these proposals. We also had the Royal Docks and Beckton Moving Market, and a variety of different activities on site for residents to experience the future potential of the site. If you missed the Community Day, you can view the exhibition in full and leave us your feedback here.

The New Royal Victoria Dock Bridge Planning Application page is information-only as consultation on these proposals closed in April in advance of the imminent planning application submission this Summer. 

The Dock Infill Planning Application page is information-only, as the application was submitted in early March to the London Borough of Newham (LBN). You can view this application on LBN’s planning portal here.

You can find out more about the history of the project and key dates on the Timeline page. 

For more information on works taking place on site over the next year, visit the Let's Get Started page. 

Over the course of this year, this Commonplace site will act as the main source of information about Silvertown's regeneration and will host opportunities for community members to provide feedback on the emerging proposals. 

Stay up to date by subscribing to our news updates here. 

If you have any comments, questions, or concerns, please visit our FAQs page and if you query is not answered there already, don't hesitate to get in touch.