The Barking shopping centre has long been slated for redevelopment by the council, reports Nick Clark, Local Democracy Reporter
Vicarage Field Shopping Centre in Barking town centre could be replaced by more than 2,000 homes as part of its redevelopment.
Property company Lagmar wants to redevelop the shopping centre after Barking and Dagenham Council leaders agreed to sell it last year.
Early plans submitted to the council now show the redevelopment could include around 2,100 “co-living, student accommodation and residential” homes.
Council leaders agreed to sell the land to Lagmar – which already manages the shopping centre – in September last year.
They backed the sale in order to “facilitate the redevelopment” of the “prominent town centre site”.
An early description of Lagmar’s plans now says the shopping centre could be replaced with eight buildings, with a “market building” in the middle of the site.
Documents say the ground floor and mezzanine levels will be non-residential, and that there will also be “an open public realm that adds greening and function to the town centre”.
Housing will be on the upper levels and include student flats, residential homes and “co-living” space. Co-living developments are aimed at professionals, but are similar to modern student halls.
The description says that the tallest buildings will be towards the north of the site.
It says the development “will be adopting a ‘car-free’ approach, meaning it will only provide delivery and servicing access and some limited parking for blue badge holders”.
Instead, the development will include measures such as cycle storage that aim to “encourage the use of public transport/reduce the reliance on private vehicles”.
The description of the plans was included in a request for a “scoping opinion” from the council.
This asks the council to set out what would need to be included in an environmental impact assessment that would be submitted as part of a planning application.
Documents say an outline planning application, containing more detail, will follow.
The council has long hoped to redevelop the Vicarage Field, with previous plans falling through in 2022.
Councillors on the cabinet committee voted in September last year to sell the freehold to Lagmar, which said owning the land would allow it to attract investment to fund the redevelopment.
A cabinet report presented to the committee in September described Vicarage Field as “an inward looking, mono-use facility not fit for a modern town centre”.
It said the redevelopment could create a “wider mix of town centre uses” on site” with a “radically improved public realm”.
The council will only sell the site once Lagmar has secured planning permission, the time limit for legal challenges has passed, a contract to being the first phase of works has been signed, and all third party rights have been resolved.
