A £6BN TRANSFORMATION IN ENFIELD, CREATING 10,000 HOMES AND THOUSANDS OF JOBS

Meridian Water is a major 20-year London regeneration programme, bringing thousands of much needed new homes and jobs to Enfield, north London, next door to the beautiful Lee Valley Regional Park.

Alongside new public open spaces, shops and community facilities, the development will have its own brand new railway station, already funded and being delivered by Network Rail to open in 2019.

Meridian Water is being actively led by Enfield Council, demonstrating how the public sector can work at its pioneering best.

The Council is speeding up the delivery of the first new homes and jobs at Meridian Water.

In June 2016, outline planning approval was given for the first 725 homes to be built at Willoughby Lane on the old National Grid site. Construction is expected to be underway by 2020.

These homes will be delivered around the brand new Meridian Water Station, which is due to open in summer 2019. The station will unlock the area for commuters, taking four million passengers per year directly south to Stratford, with onward connections to Liverpool Street, City Airport and Heathrow, and north to Stansted and Cambridge.

The Council will also deliver new workspace and around 200 affordable homes at Leeside Road, a former Gas Holder site, and a major new employment hub at a 2-3 acre site along the North Circular, creating around 900 new jobs.

Enfield Council’s vision to create a new part of London is underway. 

Meridian Water will represent a step-change away from industrial warehousing and logistics type uses, which are relatively plentiful in the Borough, offering higher skilled, higher paid employment opportunities for local people.

The £6bn transformation is designed specifically to connect and integrate with the surrounding area, transforming the local environment and local economy and providing real opportunities for Enfield’s residents to benefit from.

The Council will develop a series of high quality employment offers across the site, including new meanwhile uses, a new fashion cluster, and the creation of London’s largest open workspace for makers, creators and artists. 

A PIONEERING APPROACH TO REGENERATION, LED BY            ENFIELD COUNCIL

Enfield Council’s approach is unlike that of any other London regeneration site, with the Council taking the lead responsibility for setting strategies, working up the masterplan and deciding the optimal phasing plan for delivery.

As part of this approach, the Council will take control of the vision for Meridian Water and will oversee its delivery, selecting development and other partners to bring forward specific parts of the regeneration, whether that is for housing delivery, new employment spaces or meanwhile uses.

Enfield Council has secured a borrowing facility and will directly invest funds and resources, ensuring local people are the principle beneficiaries of the new homes and jobs that will be created.

Since April 2014, the Council has acquired 87 acres (35 hectares) of land at Meridian Water. It currently owns 64% of all developable land within the red line boundary of the site and has to date committed £157m to land acquisition.

HOME TO MERIDIAN WORKS, A HAVEN FOR MAKERS AND CREATORS

As part of ‘Meridian Works’ – a series of buildings and spaces to make use of the site from the earliest opportunity – we will be bringing small businesses, start-ups and freelancers to the area who can then grow and evolve with the scheme. 

The first phase of Meridian Works is the creation of Europe’s largest open workshop for Building Bloqs – a company born and based within the regeneration area – and ACAVA (Association for Cultural Advancement through Visual Art) supporting 300 jobs.

These first new spaces will create more than just a place to work – it will be a true destination – including a rooftop bar and restaurant with views across the River Lea, into the park and beyond.  Other spaces to follow as part of Meridian Works will include incubator space for small businesses.