How The Garden could look

How The Garden could look

Covent Garden Market Authority has unveiled new images for The Garden at New Covent Garden Market as its second public exhibition opens this week, showing plans for the brand-new fresh produce market at The Garden with new homes, shops and open spaces on the existing Nine Elms site.

This second exhibition, which opened yesterday and runs until Sunday, follows a successful first round of consultation in November 2009, when strong backing was given by the local community and other stakeholders.

All market function will come together on the main site in four new market buildings, along with a dedicated new flower market. These will all be flexible spaces designed around the needs of tenants’ businesses such as being able to accommodate mezzanine offices, chiller or racking spaces.

The plans being presented this week include more detailed information on how the additional sites not needed for the market could be used. Included in the proposals are hundreds of homes, a hotel, serviced flats, a supermarket, retail and leisure areas and more community facilities. Three tall buildings of 25-46 storeys are also proposed and a green route running through the site, as part of plans for a new park stretching from Vauxhall to Battersea Power Station.

The plans for The Garden are consistent with the recently published Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea Opportunity Area Planning Framework and will lead the regeneration of the wider area.

Having received strong backing for The Garden Heart concept - a new food centre for London - in the first exhibition, more detail has now been added for this part of the site. This will include a new public Market as well as act as the link between the Market and the other proposed uses on the site.

Baroness Brenda Dean, chairman of Covent Garden Market Authority, said: “We are delighted to be able to publish these images and our updated plans. Adding this next level of detail is really making this exciting development come to life. Our tenants and their customers can clearly see our vision for the site and the superb modern new market facilities we want to deliver for them.”

The market authority intends to submit a single planning application for the whole site to Wandsworth Council later in the year.