Is Thames Gateway too ambitious?

By Lucy Rodgers
BBC News

See a computer generated image of one of the Thames Gateway projects in the Ebbsfleet Valley Enlarge Image

Billed as Europe's largest regeneration project, Thames Gateway certainly looks good on paper.

Plans for the 40-mile long area, stretching either side of the river from London's Docklands east into Essex and Kent, aim to transform it into, in the words of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, "a great place to do business, a great place to work, a great place to live" by 2016.

Ministers promise 160,000 new zero-carbon homes, 225,000 new jobs, extra college places, more training opportunities and better transport links.

But, many are asking, can the government pull off such an ambitious plan?

Some already fear it can't.

Earlier this month, the Public Accounts Select Committee warned the project could become a "public spending calamity" if management was not "vastly" improved.

It also concluded that the Department for Communities and Local Government, which is overseeing the scheme, was "not up to the job".

And in May, the National Audit Office said house building within the project area needed to "more than double" to meet its targets.

'No effective delivery'

So, have ministers bitten off more than they can chew?

Most agree that, although the government cannot be criticised for lack of ambition, delivery has not lived up to expectations.

There doesn't seem to be a joined-up strategy yet in place Professor Tim Dixon Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development

"It sounds wonderful," says shadow local government minister Alistair Burt. "There are no marks against the government for being low on ambition and vision.

"But this has not been translated into an effective delivery mechanism. The government has never got a grip on it."

Professor Tim Dixon, director of the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development, based at Oxford Brookes University, describes the project as "hugely complex", but does not believe it is too ambitious.

The Gateway project covers 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres)

Instead, he, like others, says the fault is in the delivery, which, he claims, has been seriously slowed by the number of bodies and organisations charged with overseeing development.

"Thames Gateway is clearly an ambitious project and is very challenging because there are a number of different sub-regions within it with different characters, and it is not helped by the fact that there is a plethora of agencies involved."

He adds: "There doesn't seem to be a joined-up strategy yet in place."

The result is an organisational structure which is hard to navigate, he says, including a large number of local authorities which have "different approaches" to development and sustainability.

Green spaces

Dr Hilary Newport, director of the Campaign to Protect Rural England in Kent, agrees that the "aspirational talk" surrounding the project must be transformed into clear goals.

She has called for strong leadership which will give those involved a "clear steer".

"Someone has to make sure all those organisations are generally pulling in the same direction," she says.

The 1.45 million people living in the Gateway area are particularly concerned about "vanishing green spaces", Dr Newport says, and need assurances from the government they will be protected.

The housing target is quite clear. It is ambitious, but it will happen if there is sufficient government funding and if the planning approval is given Dino Patel London Housing Federation

In particular, she wants to see a commitment from house builders to make use of brownfield sites wherever possible.

However, she does not accept the criticism that there are too many agencies involved as such a large project "needs a lot of players to make it happen".

Dino Patel, regional manager for the London Housing Federation, disagrees, and says there needs to be "one guiding hand".

Although he is confident the project's bold housing targets can be met in practical terms, he says houses alone do not create communities, which need infrastructure, such as jobs, education and transport.

"The housing target is quite clear. It is ambitious, but it will happen if there is sufficient government funding and if the planning approval is given.

"But our concern is whether the infrastructure will be in place, otherwise we will be building communities and neighbourhoods which will fail from day one."

'Progress made'

No-one from Thames Gateway or the Department for Communities and Local Government was available for comment on criticisms about the scale of the plans or the project's organisation.

However, Housing Minister Yvette Cooper has hailed the securing of funding for London's east-west Crossrail route, the new high-speed line to London, Paris and Brussels, and London Gateway, the biggest deepwater port in Europe, as signs the project is making progress.

Ministers also say the "legacy" of the 2012 Olympics will help achieve the project's goals, as will an extra £9bn of government money announced this week.

Dermot Finch, director of the policy research body Centre for Cities, also defends the scale of the plans, saying those who attack the project's ambitious goals purely for being grand are missing the point.

To use the criticism that it is complex is a no-brainer Dermot Finch Centre for Cities

"It is a massive project and can sometimes involve scepticism because of its sheer size", he says.

But while it is complex, it is "necessarily so", he adds.

"It is so large and covers so many local authorities - from massively contaminated land at one end, to the opposite at the other.

"There are those out there who say it is too complex and beset with problems due to too many agencies being involved.

"But in a sense, to use the criticism that it is complex is a no-brainer."

He believes once those living along either side of the Thames hear about the beneficial impact of the project on communities, the more it will win their backing.

"The more we start to hear about specific bits of the Gateway, the better."