WORK STARTS ON OUTLINE PLANNING APPLICATION
FOR NEW COVENT GARDEN MARKET
· Modern new facilities for UK’s largest fresh produce market to be built in Nine Elms
· Vision for ‘The Garden at New Covent Garden Market’ to incorporate new market facilities as well as other food and flower related activities
· Planning application to be submitted for entire site next year with community consultation beginning in November 2009
· Search for private development partner to work with Covent Garden Market Authority to start in early 2010
35 years after moving to Nine Elms, Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA) is preparing an outline planning application for the entire 57 acre New Covent Garden Market (NCGM) site. This will create a modern new market for CGMA’s 240 tenant companies and opportunities for other redevelopment.
The new market, ‘The Garden’, will provide up to 540,000 sq ft of trading space for fresh produce and other food and flower related activities. In order to finance the new market the planning application will also identify other areas within the overall site suitable for redevelopment including the current Flower Market site.
The 10 acre Flower Market site sits just 400m from the major transport interchange at Vauxhall Cross. Plans for this site are being developed for CGMA by Foster & Partners for mainly residential use, taking advantage of the excellent transport links at Vauxhall interchange and views of the river. The outline plans for the rest of the site, including the new market for fruit & vegetables and food preparation and a brand new flower market, will be drawn up by Neil Tomlinson Architects, specialists in market development.
Baroness Brenda Dean, Chairman of Covent Garden Market Authority said:
”’The Garden’ is an identity that acknowledges New Covent Garden Market’s heritage but also encompasses the future, as the centre for food and flowers in London.
“The decision to prepare an outline planning application for the whole site is a major milestone and will help us fulfil our vision and commitment for the best of food and flowers in the heart of London. We are delighted to be working with such brilliant architects as Foster & Partners and Neil Tomlinson Architects and we look forward to continuing to engage with our tenants, the local community and others through the consultation process.”
CGMA will host the first of two public exhibitions about the outline planning application in November 2009, with a second one following in early 2010 before the planning application is submitted later in that year. The exhibitions will provide an opportunity for tenants, customers, suppliers, partners and the local community to see CGMA’s plans and comment on the proposals.
Since being given the green light by Government to proceed with the redevelopment CGMA has been monitoring the challenging property market conditions closely. With the site providing one of the largest development opportunities in London and having already received considerable interest from the property market, CGMA has now decided to start the procurement process for a private development partner to deliver the new Market. This will be conducted via the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU) from early 2010.
The development of the Market site will be known as ‘The Garden at New Covent Garden Market’ – a concept first announced by CGMA in March 2009. This will see the creation of a food centre for London including both the new Market development but also a whole raft of food and flower related activities on the site.
To reflect this concept the outline planning application will include an area known as ‘The Garden Heart’ which will be the hub of the Market. This will be the base for a range of activities supporting NCGM such as business support initiatives, cafes or destination restaurants, education facilities or training rooms or possibly a retail market. The delivery of ‘The Garden Heart’ will also form part of the procurement process when it starts next year.
Jan Lloyd, Chief Executive of Covent Garden Market Authority said:
“After three years of hard work and ongoing consultation with our tenants, we are at the stage where we can finally put some of our ideas on to paper and share our thinking outside the Market walls.
“We are really keen to ensure that the local community feel part of our plans and over the coming months will conduct consultation locally, allowing people to come in and see for themselves the potential of this site and what its redevelopment will bring to the area.”
Gary Marshall, Chair, Covent Garden Tenants Association said:
“We’ve been working with CGMA since the beginning on for the new Market to create a successful future for everyone.. It is crucial that the new development gives us a modern market that works for all the traders and for our customers and allows us to grow our businesses and explore new opportunities in the future.”
Barry Porter, Chair, Covent Garden Flower Market Tenant Association said:
“This is a golden opportunity to create a dynamic new Flower Market that works for our businesses. We want to work with CGMA and the architects to make sure that this time round we get a flower market that serves our needs. We look forward to seeing how the Market develops for the UK’s premier flower market.”
‘The Garden at New Covent Garden Market’ is located within the Vauxhall / Nine Elms / Battersea Opportunity Area (VNEBOA), identified in the London Plan as an area of potential growth and regeneration. The planning framework for the VNEBOA area is due for publication by the Greater London Authority imminently. The redevelopment of ‘The Garden’ is one of many major developments in the Nine Elms area which together will be changing the face of this part of central London.