New market plans given the green light by Wandsworth Council

Wandsworth Council have approved plans to develop the country's biggest fresh produce market, it has been announced.

The local authority recently announced that its planning application committee has given the go-ahead to proposals to redevelop the 40-year-old facilities at New Covent Garden Market in the Nine Elms area of Wandsworth.

Money for the initiative will come from a series of mixed-use developments on parts of the site. In addition to the modernisation of the wholesale market, some 3,019 homes would be built along with shops, cafes, bars and offices.

The council also announced that roughly 600 of the new homes (20 per cent) will be reserved for qualifying Wandsworth residents to buy or rent through affordable housing schemes. Furthermore, a new retail market would be built alongside a visitor centre and education space about the food industry.
The changes will also make it much easier for visitors and residents to travel throughout the area, with new cycle routes, footpaths and public spaces set to be created across the site.

Commenting on the developments, Sarah McDermott, chair of the council’s planning committee, said that the market is one of the most ambitious projects in Nine Elms and it will provide a number of local jobs.

She added:  “Its revival is key to our vision for the area and the redevelopment of its perimeter sites will fuse together key sections of the new people-friendly environment we are creating here.

“This project covers five distinct development plots, the largest being the new wholesale market itself which will be overhauled to provide a 21st-century trading space for the food and flower businesses."

Wandsworth Council also announced that the scheme will provide a contribution of £91 million towards improving local infrastructure in the region and help to boost the local economy.

The money will also go towards a series of local transport upgrades including the Northern Line Extension initiative.

Published 17th November, 2014

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