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On the streets where you live... The Bow Cross estate won two London planning awards. The scheme had transformed the area into a “traditional street-based neighbourhood where people want to live”. Playtime essentials “We believe play is not periphery; it is essential to the overall wellbeing and development of every child.” play association tower hamlets Property Borough’s top trio among London’s best places to live BY LARAINE CLAY A FORMER pharmaceutical factory and a refurbished estate in Bow are among three winners from the borough announced at the London Planning Awards last week. The Bow Cross estate won two awards – the mayor of London’s own Award for Planning Excellence as well as the award for Best Project Five Years On. The Best New Place to Work award went to the Pill Box, the former Allen and Hanbury pharmaceutical building in Bethnal Green which has been converted to house new and developing businesses. Housing scheme Vivo & So in Stepney won the Best New Place to Live award. The planning awards celebrate the outstanding contribution of planners to the capital’s urban regeneration. Announcing the winners last Tuesday at City Hall, Mayor Boris Johnson praised the boldness and creativity of the winners which he said was “integral to London’s success” as the capital grows by 100,000 people a year. He said Swan Housing Association’s Bow Cross scheme had transformed the area into a “traditional street-based neighbourhood where people want to live”. The success of the project was evident by the number of residents choosing to stay or return to the area, a doubling of tenant applications, Vivo & So in Stepney won the Best New Place to Live London planning award and the success of private sales, he said. The Pill Box was developed by converting the historical 65,000 square feet warehouse in Coventry Road to accommodate 90 new and growing businesses employing more than 450 people, with added on facilities such as a gym, café and restaurant. Vivo & So in Ben Jonson Road was developed by the East Thames Group and Bellway Homes to provide just over 700 flats, half of which are affordable and near schools, shops and other facilities. The awards are organised by London First, with the mayor of London, the Royal Town Planning Institute and London Councils. Mr Johnson said: “Now that London is home to more people than ever before, bold and innovative planning has taken on an even more crucial role. “As our city continues to grow, the cranes are swinging into action on schemes both big and small and the variety of projects showcased through the London Planning Awards gives me great confidence that the capital has the vision and talent to be able to embrace our incredible population growth and remain the best big city on the world.” Spruce-up fund for Ada A PLAY area in Bethnal Green is to benefit from a makeover thanks to the London Marathon Charitable Trust – and the efforts of a local campaigner. Eleanor Image from the Play Association Tower Hamlets (PATH) has secured a £22,325 grant from the trust which will be used to refurbish the communal play area at Ada House, run by Tower Hamlets Community Housing (THCH). The residents board has agreed to add £5,000 from its budget to supplement the work. THCH and PATH will be meeting residents this month to finalise how the money should be used and work is due to start late spring or early summer. Eleanor said: “I’m looking forward to working with children and adults at Ada House to create a more playful green space for residents of all ages.” Chair of the Bethnal Green Area Resident Board, Anne Ambrose, said: “With a great deal of advice and support provided by Eleanor from PATH, residents have for a second time been successful in obtaining funding from the London Marathon Trust and this time it will enable the play area at Ada House to be refurbished.” PATH works to ensure play is at the heart of community life in Tower Hamlets – more details at www.playtowerhamlets. org.uk Deputy visits Isle of Dogs THE deputy mayor of London with responsibility for housing visited the New Union Wharf estate on the Isle of Dogs as part of a tour to see how GLA funding is being spent. The development is one of two by East Thames which have been supported by the Greater London Authority to provide affordable homes for rent and shared ownership for local people. Richard Blakeway, deputy mayor for housing, land and property, met residents and saw how work was progressing on the Isle of Dogs and on the second project in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Park. Started in 2013, the New Union Wharf estate regeneration will see 189 homes on the 1970s-built estate replaced with 399 modern homes. The first stage of the five-phase, ten-year programme was begun with the assistance of GLA funding. Prospect East is near East Village, the former Athletes’ Village, and is the first phase of a new neighbourhood with around 1,000 homes. Senior members of East Thames’ management team and their project development partners Hill Partnerships took Mr Blakeway and Fiona Duncan, the GLA’s head of area, on a short tour of both developments on January 30. Richard Blakeway (centre) at New Union Wharf with, from left: Jamie Hunter from Hill Partnerships, New Union Wharf resident Jackie Bettis, Trevor Burns from East Thames, resident Penny Verlander, Yvonne Arrowsmith, chief executive of East Thames, Fiona Duncan, Dean Miller from Hill Partnerships and East Thames Group’s Tina Tietjen Marsh Wall homes plan PLANS for a mixed used development on the Isle of Dogs with 700 homes, a hotel, a health centre and a primary school, have been submitted to the council. Property development company Far East Consortium has applied for planning permission for the proposed development at Marsh Wall, after holding public exhibitions and consulting with residents and businesses in the area. When finished it could provide job opportunities for more than 400 local people. 9 – 15 FEBRUARY 2015 N E W S F R O M TOWER HAMLETS COUNCIL AND YOUR COMMUNITY 25


East_End_Life_09Feb2015
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