Aberfeldy West, London

The opportunity to maximise housing for Poplar HARCA, as part of the regeneration scheme at Aberfeldy Village, has taken a massive step forward. 

Askival’s Malcolm Ward, working as project director for the joint venture between Poplar HARCA and developer EcoWorld, has been instrumental in compiling the masterplan for an extra 1600 homes, many of which will be affordable.   This has now been submitted to Tower Hamlets Council with the aim of securing planning permission by March 2022. 

Known as Aberfeldy West, the scheme will follow on from the current Aberfeldy Village development of 900 homes which is nearing completion and includes shops, a GP surgery and a community café.

Taking into account the results of two years’ community consultation – including valuable input from pupils at Langdon Park Secondary School – Aberfeldy West’s proposals incorporate an underpass, with cycle and pedestrian routes, to connect neighbourhoods notoriously cut off by the A12 and A13 trunk roads.  Co-operation from Transport for London has ensured its viability with agreement to re-route buses and revise A12/A13 accesses and exits.  It is envisaged this move will help to keep current ‘rat run’ traffic off local roads.

Plans also provide financial support to improve Tower Hamlets’ nearby outdoor spaces including the Millennium Green.  And there will be additional community retail and workspace facilities.

Paving the way for submission of the plans, continuous consultation and engagement with the council’s housing and regeneration team has been carried out by Askival’s local authority specialist Tony Draper.  Malcolm Ward said: “Poplar HARCA and EcoWorld’s insight in Identifying the opportunity to extend the scheme in such a positive way for the local residents is fantastic.  It comes at a time when this formerly neglected area of Tower Hamlets is showing its genuine potential as a thriving place for the community and gives an opportunity to bring additional housing and infrastructure into the 21^st century.”