Plans for the redevelopment of New Covent Garden Market (NCGM)- part of the wider transformation of Nine Elms in London's South Bank area - have beensubmitted to the local district council.
The redevelopment of the 57-acre site will see 500,000 sq ft of modern market facilitiesconsolidated on one site. The new market, to be known as ‘The Garden’, will create a focusfor food and flowers in London, complete with a new food quarter, a place to trade, produce, consume,learn and share.
It will also see the release of 20 acres of surplus land which will be transformed into a high-quality residential neighbourhood comprising approximately 3,000 new homes, 135,000 sq ftof new office space and 100,000 sq ft of retail, leisure and new community facilities,including shops, cafes and restaurants.
The planning application has been submitted by a partnership involvingCovent Garden Market Authority(CGMA), property firmProperties PLC, and construction company VINCI PLC.
NCGM plays a vital part in London’s hospitality sector,supplying 40 per cent of all the fresh fruit and vegetables eaten outside the home and 20 out of 20of the capital’s top restaurants.
It is envisaged that the plans will secure the future for the 200 companiesand the 2,500 workers trading at the market, together with their customers and suppliers.
The entire scheme will be set alongside a new linear park for the area along the river andstretching from Vauxhall to Battersea Power Station via the new American and Netherlands embassies.
The extension of the Northern Line and the opening of two new tube stationswill mean the majority of people living and working in the area will be within five minutes’walk of a tube station.
Subject to receipt of planning, development work on the new market will commence in 2015.
Pam Alexander, CGMA chair, said:“New Covent Garden Market is of huge importance to London and the wider UK economy as
well as being the largest employer in Wandsworth, outside the local authority. I amdelighted that in the 40th anniversary of the move to Nine Elms we are embarking on thissignificant chapter in the market’s 800-year-old history.
“Since the launch of our plans for the redevelopment of NCGM, we have worked closely withour key stakeholders, and our tenants, as well as with the wider community to create a newmarket fit for the 21st century and to ensure not only the market’s future but its contributionto London’s hospitality sector and the national horticultural trade for years to come, and to
open up a new food quarter for London.”
