Twickenham Riverside Regeneration

Introduction

The Twickenham Riverside site is owned by the Council and is bounded by Water Lane, Wharf Lane and the River Thames in the heart of Twickenham, alongside Eel Pie Island.

View the location map for the Twickenham Riverside site here(pdf, 114KB)

The site was formerly occupied by a public swimming pool which was closed around 1980.

The Council is fully committed to its comprehensive regeneration, not least because it has remained an under-utilised public asset for 28 years.

The vision

The vision for the regeneration of the site and the adjacent embankment area is set out in the Twickenham Riverside Development Brief, which was approved via a report to the Council's Cabinet meeting of April 2008.

This approval followed a 3 stage consultation process via which views were sought from local residents, businesses and interest groups. The consultation process included a range of meetings and workshops and culminated in a 5 day exhibition, held at York House in February 2008 that was visited by over 650 people. The report to the April 2008 Cabinet included a summary of this consultation and of the responses to a questionnaire that was a part of the exhibition.

View the Development Brief(pdf, 3389KB) (This is a large document and may take some time to download).

The Development Brief

The Development Brief is being used as the basis for a marketing exercise through which the Council is seeking a developer partner for the site. It provides clear and practical advice to prospective developers on the form of development considered most appropriate for the site. It includes a plan showing the likely layout of the site in terms of where the various uses will be positioned.

View the plan of the preferred form of development.

The River Centre

A priority of development brief is its requirement for the construction of a River Centre at the South-East corner of the site. Once complete, the building is intended to be managed by the Environment Trust for Richmond-upon-Thames which is a Council commitment following the ‘Twickenham Challenge Initiative’ in 2006 which sought proposals for community related uses at a part of the site.

View the visual of the concept.

The River Centre will be a significant community facility, incorporating a boat house, learning centre, office space for voluntary organisations and a restaurant/café and it will be a place where people of all ages and groups in the community can learn about the environment, the river and sustainability.

Other development priorities

The chosen developer partner will construct the River Centre on the Council’s behalf and will also need to deliver these other site specific priorities:-

• Provide the maximum viable amount of public open space in the centre of the site, and re-provide the existing temporary children’s play area adjacent to the River Centre;
• Continue to provide resident, public and business parking but with an emphasis on these being predominantly positioned to the rear of the site, away from the riverfront.
• Retain existing servicing arrangements, whilst creating new pedestrian routes and encourage sustainable modes of transport, such as cycling.
• Ensure that new development is of the highest standard of design and embrace the latest innovations in sustainable design and construction.
• Contribute towards the landscaping improvements to the wider Embankment area.
• Fund all of the above through provision of private housing, sympathetically designed to respect the special local character of the area and to promote sustainable living and at a scale no greater than that required to generate the funding for all of the above.

Programme for the selection of a developer partner

Work on the procurement of a developer partner commenced in May 2008. The process for this follows a framework that is set by European Union procurement legislation. Initial “Expressions of Interest” are being sought from developers through July and early August 2008 and it is expected to then shortlist to around 3 -5 developers by early September.

These short-listed firms will be required to enter into what is termed “competitive dialogue” with the Council through which the detail of development scheme proposals will be considered and discussed. A key aspect of these discussions will be an emphasis from the Council of the need for the enabling housing development to be at a scale that is required for the delivery of the River Centre and other public benefits, and no more.

Next stage of consultation

This competitive dialogue is likely to result in very firm proposals from 3 firms being in place by early 2009 in a format that is appropriate for public exhibition. The target is that this exhibition be held around February 2009 and that a Cabinet decision is then made in respect of the preferred developer around March/April 2009.

The chosen developer will then be expected to enter into a development contract with the Council and to apply for planning permission for the chosen scheme in the usual manner. Further public consultation will be undertaken as part of that planning process

More information on Twickenham Riverside

For enquiries about the Twickenham Riverside Regeneration, please contact Jini Constant

Email: twickenhamriverside@richmond.gov.uk
Telephone: 020 8891 7922