Britain 2030: Reviving the industrial spirit along the River Thames
Snaking inland from the dark of the North Sea, the River Thames has for centuries been the very lifeblood of London.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the Thames that put the capital right at the heart of Britain’s global empire, turning it into the modern, thriving metropolis it is today.
Travel just half an hour from the City, however, and you will find yourself in a different world entirely – one totally passed by by the developments of recent decades.
Instead of the gleaming skyscrapers of the Square Mile, the river estuary – which remains the entry to one of the country’s largest shipping lanes – is littered with ghostly reminders of Britain’s industrial past.
But the next decade could change all that, due to a major redevelopment scheme that could create tens of billions of extra revenue for the UK economy and radically change the very landscape itself.
Helming the project is Kate Willard, the chair of the Thames Estuary growth board and the so-called “Estuary Envoy”.
“By 2030, this extraordinary estuary is going to be an example to the whole world”, she told Morning Wire. “People are going to be talking about us all round the world.”
‘No other freeport has so much space’
The area covered by the project encompasses North Kent, South Essex and East London, which have some of the highest levels of deprivation in the country.
But the region is already becoming a hive of activity, with more than 30 projects planned in total, which could support 1.5m more jobs.
Undeniably, the centrepiece of the project will be the estuary’s new freeport, which will cover the ports at Tilbury and Thames Gateway, and Ford’s factory in Dagenham.
The site is one of eight new economic free zones recently announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in a bid to accelerate inward investment into the UK through lower tax rates, business rates relief, and the waiving of export tariffs.
Alan Shaoul, finance chief of Gateway owner DP World UK, said that the zone should be functioning by the end of the year.
And while the jury is still out on how effective the freeport scheme will really be, DP World and Forth Ports, which manages the Port of Tilbury, are already driving ahead with huge investment schemes.
Already the UK’s third biggest container port, DP World is planning another £400m of investment into the facility, which includes the country’s largest logistic park, home to firms like Amazon, UBS, Lidl and Dixons Carphone.
“We’ve got loads of land available, and we are looking to attract businesses which want to make use of the river”, said Shaoul. “There’s no other freeport site in the country that has as much land available as us.”
Just a third of the logistics park has been developed so far, Shaoul added, meaning that there remains plenty of space for new companies to establish themselves.
He pointed out that the government was also now allowing local authorities to keep 100 per cent of business rates, which he said would result in a “very significant increase” in public funding.
Meanwhile up the river at the Port of Tilbury, a new roll-on roll-off cargo terminal – Tilbury 2 – opened last year, and even more land has been earmarked for future development.
The ports themselves are central to the local area – for example, a fifth of Thurrock’s working population are employed at Tilbury and in the logistics centre – but Willard was clear that it was just part of the regeneration project.
“The free port is an extremely important part of the project, there’s no doubt about that, but even if the bid had failed we would still have the estuary project.”
For example, she cites the Dagenham dock project, which will bring together London’s three wholesale food markets at Billingsgate, New Spitalfields and Smithfield in a single location further east.
The move, which is being championed by Canada Corporation, will revive an old industrial estate in Dagenham by shifting the markets 11 miles out of the centre of the City.
Construction is slated to begin in 2024, with the markets expected to open between 2027-2028, providing yet another boost for the area.
‘People will come from Paris for this’
But the project that may well end up attracting the most attention is London Resort development, which will see an enormous theme park built on a narrow outcrop of land just over the river from the Port of Tilbury.
When it opens, in 2025, the resort will be one of the 10 biggest theme parks in the world, on a scale similar to Universal Studios in Florida.
Initially, it will support 8,000 jobs in the area, but by 2029 this is expected to have swollen to 17,000, as well as further indirect jobs in local supply chains.
Andy Martin, the project’s director of communications, says that the project is unlike anything that the UK has ever seen before.
“People from Paris (where Disneyland is) will be taking the train here to visit. We’ll be part of the engine room for the wider Thames Estuary, and good for Britain for the next 20 years”, he said.
The firm behind the project is run by PY Gerbeau, a former Disneyland Paris exec who will be well-known to Londoners for taking over management of the Millenium Dome after its underwhelming opening night.
Again, he said that the key for the area would be providing jobs that keep people from commuting into London for work.
“There’s a real sense of pride in being from the local area. What’s missing are the job opportunities, and that’s what we’ll provide”, he said
And like the other projects, Martin stresses that it is the river that will set the project apart. London Resort is already in discussion with Thames Clipper about running “Park and Glide” services from the northbank of the river, where a quarter of its parking will be located.
It is also looking to run services by boat directly from central London, and discussing how it can discount such forms of travel to make them the preferred choice for visitors.
All this chimes neatly with how Willard says the growth board has approached the entire redevelopment project.
“There is a temptation to look at this area and to think that the Thames is a barrier. But we started from the principle that it was our central, beating artery.
“Everything is based on the connection between that world-connected Estuary and the landmass. It is integral to the project, and it is our job to make sure we get the most out of it that we can.”