Mayor of Newham Rokhsana Fiaz has marked a significant milestone in the development of Canning Town’s Hallsville Quarter by performing a ground-breaking ceremony to begin phase three of the project.
The Hallsville Quarter development is part of the £3.7bn Canning Town and Custom House regeneration programme. Of the 620 new homes being built by developers Linkcity in this new phase, 102 will be shared ownership and 97 much needed new social rent homes – with 50 of those homes for residents needing extra care.
As part of the third phase there will be two new squares, helping to create a new community hub, as well as a new health centre, independent cinema, shops, offices and new high-quality public spaces, including fountains and play areas.
Mayor Fiaz performed the ground-breaking alongside senior representatives from phase three constructors Linkcity; Bouygues UK, who are the main contractors for this phase of the development; investors Grainger plc; and One Housing, who will manage the social rent and shared ownership homes.
The Mayor said: “The Hallsville Quarter development is part of an ambitious vision for Canning Town, the new major town centre for Newham. The Council’s been working with Linkcity to make the scheme benefit local residents through genuinely affordable homes, job opportunities and a welcoming and sustainable neighbourhood for our community. We now have a thriving Morrisons supermarket alongside other local shops that are open or in the pipeline, which provide great local facilities for residents.
“With 199 of the new homes being built, a mix of social rent and shared ownership and of a high standard, new social housing is absolutely critical to tackling the borough’s shortage of affordable housing. In addition, 50 of them will be allocated to Newham residents who need extra care services and facilities, enabling more people to remain independent and cared for in their own homes.
“There has been a clear and growing need for a new health centre in the area, and the Council’s joint venture with NHS Newham Clinical Commissioning Group is the first of its type in the UK.”
The development is an opportunity to harness benefits in line with Mayor Fiaz’s innovative community wealth building and inclusive economy commitments, and the Council’s Towards a Better Newham Covid-19 Recovery Strategy, all of which contribute to the health, wellbeing, prosperity and happiness of residents and businesses.
A key element of the Covid-19 strategy is that the borough’s six town centres, including Canning Town, and 13 local centres will play a vital role in providing the social connections, goods and services to support residents’ essential needs.
The Mayor added: “We will support the development of high street areas like this one that deliver essentials for healthy and happy communities. This means moving from not just being commercial spaces, but also being more effective places of community and civic activity where all our residents and visitors can meet, learn and celebrate.
“As part of my community wealth building agenda, we’ve also agreed with Linkcity to recruit 35 per cent of the entire construction team from Newham through our improved Workplace jobs brokerage service. Already 21% of the workforce which built phases one and two was from Newham and I look forward to hearing about construction jobs going to our residents here on this site.”
