Regeneration in Bexley
 Invest Bexley
Watch a short film about regeneration projects in Bexley here
Bexley’s location at the heart of the Thames Gateway, Europe’s
largest regeneration initiative, is helping to secure significant new investment
in housing, jobs, community infrastructure and the environment. This is changing
people’s lives and contributing to thriving, cohesive and balanced communities.
Invest Bexley’s Regeneration Framework provides the vision for a step
change in local regeneration activity that will shape physical, social and
cultural change in the Borough over the next ten years and beyond. The Board
brings together expertise from both public and private sector to drive forward
plans that will ensure Bexley maximises its opportunities as a key player in
the Thames Gateway and close neighbour of the  2012
Olympics.
Our plans have been informed by consultation with key stakeholders and take
account of regional, sub-regional and local strategies. These focus both on
our position and role within the wider sub-region and on Bexley’s emerging
Local Development Framework, Community Strategy and targeted pieces of work
on places and themes. All of this is underpinned by robust evidence and a thorough
baseline assessment.
The Invest Bexley board has identified seven priorities for regeneration
and creating sustainable communities:
- Secure new public transport links to improve local transport infrastructure
and help secure strong, high quality connections with the wider sub-regional
transport system
- Promote desirable housing for mixed communities, producing around
4000 new homes by 2016, on brownfield land, well-designed with many suitable
for families and a significant proportion of affordable housing
- Develop quality community infrastructure including cultural and sporting
opportunities linked to the 2012 Olympic Games and their legacy
- Improve local skill levels, so local people have a strong opportunity
to compete in the local market place and beyond
- Encourage high value jobs, creating over 6000 new jobs by 2016, with
employment growth in higher tech and knowledge industries
- Enhance green space
- Ensure effective project delivery, particularly enhancing
the understanding and reputation of Bexley.
We start in a fairly strong position. Bexley benefits from good schools,
some good quality housing neighbourhoods with amongst the lowest house prices
in London, relatively low crime rates, an attractive environment with extensive
open space including a long waterfront with access to the River Thames and
River Cray, and a strong network of green links. We also have a strong heritage
offer in Danson
House, Hall
Place, Crossness,  Lesnes
Abbey and Red
House, and a range of quality sports clubs and arts colleges.
However, there are also some real challenges. Bexley’s recent economic
history is one of decline and under-performance. Despite being part of the
London East sub-region, the third largest economy in the country, the borough
is performing relatively badly. Although unemployment levels are low, many
of the borough’s population are in low-paid jobs and residents’ average
earnings are lower than surrounding London boroughs.
Reflecting its industrial heritage, Bexley has a high proportion of people
qualified to NVQ 2 or 3 but with few transferable skills. The number of ‘higher
end’ qualifications and professions is below local and national averages
with an above average number in administrative and secretarial roles. Even
with relatively low house prices, the income-to-house price ratio shows a bigger
gap than in many other parts of the capital, with many working households,
including those on whom we rely to provide our essential public services, still
struggling to buy a home.
Much of the housing in the borough was built between 1918 and 1939. Post-war
social housing contrasts in design with the private sector and is mainly in
high rise developments, concentrated in north Bexley.
We know that bids for public funding must be carefully targeted to pump prime
schemes the private sector will support over time.
Our strategy is therefore to focus on places:
- that experience multiple deprivation where intervention is needed
to break a cycle of decline and create choice and opportunity
- with the best offer for the accommodation of well-designed housing
growth on brownfield sites
- with plenty of potential for new and expanding businesses.
All of this is to be brought forward alongside projects to improve transport
infrastructure, protect and enhance our environment, both locally and as part
of Thames Gateway Parklands, and develop
current and new cultural amenities valued locally and of wider benefit within
the Thames Gateway.
We also focus on the transport systems so essential if Bexley’s economy
is to develop and the isolation experienced by some parts of the borough is
to change. Invest Bexley and the London Borough of Bexley want to see major
public transport improvements in the borough. We want to see the Docklands
Light Railway extended into Bexley, a transit system linking up Kent Fastrack with
the Greenwich
Waterfront Transit, Oyster Card extended to the overground rail network, Crossrail built
and extended out to Ebbsfleet, and 12 car trains to London. Without this transport
infrastructure we will not be able to deliver jobs and homes in a sustainable
way, improve linkages with other parts of the Thames Gateway or attract and
retain the more affluent working households we need to help us create better
balanced, more economically viable communities.
Our main geographical focus is Bexley Riverside, including Erith, Crayford,
Thamesmead and Abbey Wood, Belvedere, and Slade Green.
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Erith
Erith has already seen significant change in the last 10 years. The redevelopment
of obsolete and run down riverside industrial areas has helped to create a
climate that has started to attract private sector investment. With recent
financial support totalling almost £7million from the then Office of
the Deputy Prime Minister and endorsement by the Mayor
of London, who has designated Erith town centre as one of London’s
100 Public Spaces, Erith has a very exciting future capitalising on its distinctive
riverside location. Our plans are to revitalise the town with a new civic heart,
create new homes and jobs, consolidate and expand the retail offer and maximise
the recreational potential of the river. We will be continuing our work with English
Partnerships and others to develop the western gateway to the town and
have a range of projects for which we will seek funding to improve local transport
infrastructure and connectivity, further improve the public realm and bring
Erith back to the river. Bexley is also keen to see a new use for Erith Quarry,
a former quarry site in private ownership.
Follow the progress of the Erith Western Gateway project here...
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Crayford
Crayford has considerable potential for development. But complex land ownership,
a run-down and deteriorating environment, and difficult traffic conditions
mean that public sector intervention is needed to enable it to offer the scale
of housing growth and employment it could sustain. Vacant and underused industrial
land offers considerable potential for renewal. A cultural industries hub is
planned and development of the Town Hall site and other projects will provide
high quality links between the industrial and retail/residential areas of the
town. Our plans include improvements to the public realm to make the town centre
a place with a positive, coherent image, new library, new clinic/health centre,
enhancements to the River Cray and adjoining land including a new walk. We
are also seeking to enhance the profile of Hall
Place as a significant local resource.
Follow the progress of current Crayford environmental improvements here...
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Thamesmead
Thamesmead straddles the boundary between the London Boroughs of Bexley and Greenwich.
Originally heralded as a new town when built in the 1960s, Thamesmead now has
a well documented range of social and economic problems. The area has a highly
transient population with pockets of significant deprivation. Our aim is to
work closely with Greenwich and other key stakeholders – Gallions
Housing Association, Trust
Thamesmead and Tilfen
Land – to develop a delivery plan for the future of the area that
will transform perceptions and ensure that exciting regeneration schemes like
Tavy Bridge are successful. We are therefore supporting a number of cultural,
arts and environmental projects that create new opportunities and help to address
the ‘poverty of aspiration’ and reputation. Crossrail at
Abbey Wood offers a major opportunity for Thamesmead and it is vital that we
maximise the potential benefits it will bring. We are also working on a joint
study with the London Borough of Greenwich that will identify further improvements
needed to ensure Thamesmead thrives as a community.
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Belvedere Employment Area
This area is a strategically important employment area but needs modernising
and upgrading. Offering one of the largest employment concentrations in the
Thames Gateway, currently with around 70 hectares of vacant land, there is
already strong representation from some sectors including distribution, food
processing and production. However our aim is to diversify and attract higher-value
industries that can complement the new Thames
Innovation Centre at Veridion
Park. Most urgently we need to create a strong platform for private sector
investment by improving transport links and the basic quality of the public
realm to provide effective movement within a safe and pleasant environment.
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Slade Green
Slade Green feels the most isolated part of the borough with local people
feeling they have lost a sense of community they once had. There are serious
issues around transport accessibility, congestion and poor local amenities.
The area does however have a considerable natural asset in Crayford Marshes
that we are seeking to protect and enhance. In addition to this the London
Borough of Bexley is currently undertaking a review of options for the Howbury
site and decontamination of playing fields to bring them back into use. There
are also plans to review options for estates renewal and tenure diversification
within current and new housing developments. The recent successful funding
bid for a new clubhouse for Erith
Yacht Club will give a boost to the area. This Olympic legacy project will
increase sailing opportunities for local people and encourage use of the river.
Our aim is to make Bexley a place where people will want to stay, a place with
real communities living in decent homes, a place for families with good amenities
and a sense of identity, a place that builds on its strengths and addresses its
weaknesses.
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