Go ahead for £2bn regeneration plan

23 November 2006

The £2bn redevelopment of long-redundant old railway lands at Kings Cross in London gained final approval last week, after officers advised councillors that the section 106 agreement was a good deal.
Camden council’s development control committee made the final grant of the planning permissions and consents for regeneration of the 64-acre brownfield site by developer Argent, as it approved the section 106 agreement. Cllr Keith Moffitt, Liberal Democrat leader of Camden LBC, said afterwards: ‘We’ve secured a good range of benefits.’
The Liberal Democrat councillors had opposed the proposals when in opposition in March – when the scheme was given outline permission, pending the finalising of the section 106 – on the grounds that there was insufficient affordable housing. Camden planning officers had advised councillors the section 106 package for the mixed-use scheme – which includes 455,500m² of business space and 1,700 homes – was worth some £109M, which they said was comparable with the benefits secured for other London regeneration projects.
‘The infrastructure and public realm benefits alone pass £60M, while the section 106 provides £26M in what one might call cash terms.’
The package included £6M for landscaping and streetlighting for the canal, £4.2M for improving bus services, £2.4M for revamping adjacent streets, an 800m² bicycle storage facility by Kings Cross station, and two pedestrian/cycle bridges over the canal.
Councillors also quizzed officers on why the development had more than 500 residential and 300 office parking spaces, arguing that it should be ‘car free’, given the fact that it was probably better served by rail, Tube and bus links that anywhere else in the UK.

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