Council gives Dome go-ahead

Council gives Dome go-ahead

The site could have 10,010 new homes

Plans to turn the Millennium Dome into a major sporting and entertainment centre have cleared an important first hurdle.

Greenwich Council's planning committee on Wednesday gave planning permission to the Meridian Delta consortium, which wants to turn it into a 20,000-seat sports and concert arena, as well as regenerating the surrounding area.

The plans include 10,000 new homes on the Greenwich Peninsula of which 3,500 would be deemed "affordable".

The matter will be passed to London mayor Ken Livingstone who has said he will block the application unless the number of proposed affordable properties is increased to 5,000.

But council members were generally happy with the 35% ratio of homes which will be made available to keys workers such as nurses and teachers.

If a complete impasse is reached, the matter could be referred to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and it is unlikely that all matters will be resolved before the autumn.

£550m return

Meridian Delta director Bert Martin said: "Although this is an important first step in securing planning permission, there remains a great deal of further work to be undertaken to discuss and resolve the remaining issues."

The consortium is planning a complete renewal of the Greenwich Peninsula which would see top entertainment and sporting stars appearing at the Dome, as well as new offices, shops, a new school, a hotel, and 24,000 new jobs.

The deal could result in a £550m return to the government over a 20-year period.

Recent government figures show that the bill simply for keeping the Dome mothballed since July 2001 has risen to £22.9m.