With a bridge, a tunnel and an Environment Secretary all supporting Dartford’s development, Anthony Barnett looks at the opportunities that will arise.
When the first cars sped across the new £120m Queen Elizabeth II Bridge over the Thames into Dartford last month they signalled an end – at least temporarily – to the congestion of the town’s infamous tunnel and to six important months in the town’s history.
In August Michael Heseltine launched his plans for an East Thames Corridor to balance the growth pressures to the west of the capital. Focusing on a region bordered by north Kent and south Essex, it highlighted Dartford as an area of growth.
And in the autumn the Government announced its decision to choose the Ove Arup high-speed rail link which will pass through Dartford. Many agents remain sceptical on the effect of the Channel Tunnel, but the council is fighting hard for a station.
Peter Thomas, senior commercial director of Walter & Randall, said: “The tunnel is being promoted as a cute-all for the economic needs of the South East and, in particular, Kent. This is at the very least an over-enthusiasm and probably a complete misreading of the true level of benefits. My prognosis is far less buoyant and certainly the hype from some property pundits is pure wishful thinking, based on no facts.”
But there is no doubt that a station in Dartford would add considerably to the town’s attractions. It is beginning to dawn on potential tenants that Dartford is only 17 miles from London and only 30 minutes by train. Its industrial base of cement and papermaking has now given way to light industry, and an office market is evolving.
Graham Mitchell, of Caxtons, said: “Companies are now extending their office search to include Dartford. Communication-wise it is perfectly placed, with the A2/m2 and the M20 right on the doorstep.”
Blue Circle Properties claims that this makes its 3m sq ft Crossways project “the most accessible business park in the UK.”
The 200,000-sq ft B8 phase one of Crossways was completed in 1989, with tenants such as Racal Vodophone and Swift paper. Asda opened its 370,000 sq ft regional centre employing 400 people, and Fyffes Group has now completed its 50,000-sq ft warehouse, paying £4.6m for a 125-year ground lease. A major factor in this importer’s decision was the Dartford International Ferry Terminal owned by Blue Circle Industries and Municipal Mutual Insurance.
The first part of the Admiral’s Park office development – four buildings totalling 37,500 sq ft of offices – has recently been completed, joint agents Hillier Parker and Caxtons are quoting a rent of £18.50 per sq ft. With the planned 200,000-sq ft statement building Nelson House, Admiral’s Park will offer 900,000 sq ft of offices.
Stakis is building a 180-bedroom 4-star hotel and there are proposals for a 160-bedroom budget hotel by Campanile, the French hotel group.
When fully complete Crossways will total 3m sq ft, but it will not have the show to itself. A 340-acre business park to the west of the Queen Elizabeth II bridge is planned on land owned by the council and the regional health authority.
The area has been allocated in the country plan and will be served by the Dartford Northern bypass which is due for completion in 1992.
Michael Wilson, the council’s director of development, said: “We are in the process of marketing the first phase of its development and we see the first building up and occupied by the time the bypass is up.
We are very keen to see high-quality development. The local plan does say that our development could stretch into the next century. Blue Circle, being answerable to its shareholders, is under greater pressure to get a quick and adequate return on its investment.”
An educational establishment is planned for the site and Thames Polytechnic is considering it as a potential home in its relocation plans. Like most of the Dartford developments its success is dependent on road improvements being carried out. The Thameside Industrial Route (now the South Thameside Development Route) is being duelled and, starting from junction 12 on the M25, links to the A2 in Bean. Blue Circle Properties is helping the £20m funding of the route with Kent County Council as the road threads through its properties including Blue Water Park – a £500m retail and leisure complex which finally received outline planning permission last year despite being on green belt land.
It will contain over 1m sq ft of shopping and 225,000 sq ft of retail warehousing, with 125,000 sq ft of leisure facilities and a recreational park. This will help to attract customers who are increasingly going across the Thames to do their shopping in Thurrock’s Lakeside centre.
Apart from Blue Circle, which owns a total of 2,800 acres in Dartford, the other major developer in the town is Allied London Property. It owns the 90,000 sq ft Orbital One business park; and has plans for a 100,000 sq ft premium headquarters building next to the central rail station.
At present the station is put to most use as a platform for the half of Dartford’s 80,000 population who commute to London because of the lack of employment opportunities in the town itself. The developments planned will help to put a halt to this, as will the realisation that rental levels are the lowest on the M25. The only problem is Dartford’s image. As Caxtons’ Graham Mitchell says: “It hasn’t yet got the name of the Western corridor towns but it certainly has got all they can offer.”
