Network Rail Property’s plans to regenerate 30 acres of brownfield land at Bow Goods Yard, E3, have been given the go ahead.
The site is the final parcel of land to be unlocked as part of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic legacy and, following unanimous approval from the London Legacy Development Corporation last night, will now be transformed into a major rail freight and last-mile logistics hub.
Under the industrial-led masterplan as much as 3m sq ft of floorspace will be created on the site, including heavy and light industrial space.
The land has the potential to deliver a new central hub for Network Rail, which it said would accelerate London’s transition to green freight. Taking up to 90,000 HGV movements a year away from the national road network, the masterplan will cut congestion and emissions, said Network Rail.
A range of leisure uses are also proposed at Bow Goods Yard, with the flexibility for up to 350,000 sq ft of destination leisure, 35,000 sq ft of food and beverage offerings and 55,000 sq ft of sports pitches to complement existing facilities on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Large parts of the site are currently inaccessible to the local community, but Network Rail Property’s plans include the creation of a series of 200,000 sq ft green open spaces, including cycleways and footpaths, newly planted trees and green walls and roofs.
Robin Dobson, group property director at Network Rail, said: “Transforming this strategically underutilised freight site into the largest industrial and logistics campus that serves the whole of east London is central to expanding rail freight capacity and supporting the capital’s logistics market.
“The approval of this masterplan submitted by Network Rail Property is a major milestone in repositioning the property business. It marks our ambition to drive growth and investment across our brownfield estate, taking the lead on complex projects to ensure we deliver the widest mix of commercial and social opportunities. By working closely with local communities and businesses, we are ensuring sites like Bow Goods Yard will support the local area for generations to come.”
Blazej Czuba, urban studio lead at Maccreanor Lavington, which advised Network Rail on the masterplan, added: “It has been an incredible journey for us developing a project that secures the industrial capacity of the site while positively responding to its unique context in the middle of the Olympic regeneration area.
“The result is a masterplan showing that heavy industry can successfully co-exist with other functions in a city, and that many industrial uses can be integrated into the street fabric, instead of being relegated to an out-of-town industrial estate. But this is not just an industrial project. The leisure and community component will expand what the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park has to offer, capitalising on London’s bourgeoning experience economy.”
Bow Goods Yard was used as the main construction hub for the Olympics and during the Games was home to the Olympic warm-up track.
The site currently hosts several heavy rail freight uses and, as one of the largest railheads for the capital, it supplies more than 1m tonnes of concrete and aggregate to the construction industry.
Proposals for the site were first drawn up in 2023.
Montagu Evans advised on planning.
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