ABP chairman Xu Weiping has expressed his confidence in the Chinese company’s Royal Docks development which, he believes, will become a global business park.
Despite the fact that work is yet to begin in earnest, 57 companies have already registered an interest in taking up commercial space within the development and official estimates predict that a total of 20,000 jobs could be created in total when the project is completed.
As a result of this high level of interest, Mr Xu has revealed that his firm is now considering expanding the horizons of the scheme in order to regenerate wider areas of East London. Exhibitions for the plans at the Royal Albert Dock are currently on show at Compressor House, but ABP is now in talks with local authorities in Newham to lodge a further planning application which would allow the business hub to cover a greater area and create premises for a larger number of businesses.
Speaking at the unveiling of the Royal Albert Dock exhibition, Mr Xu said; “We want to build the site far beyond the boundary of the current plans.
“That’s what we want to see in east London and we’re fully confident we will get it done.
“We want the community to support us and watch over us to make sure it will be done.”
Despite the fact that many of the firms which have already expressed an interest in the business park come from China, Mr Xu was eager to emphasise that the site will not be solely available to Asian brands. He wishes to create a “global business park”, allowing a variety of different companies access to affordable commercial space, whether they be globally established or in the early stages of start-up.
ABP’s extended plans have received the full support of Newham’s executive mayor, Sir Robin Wales, despite the fact that a number of development firms have submitted proposals for the area. This, he claims, is because ABP’s project is “moving along faster than the others”, allowing Newham to adequately capitalise on the advantages the Crossrail transportation scheme will bring to east London.
However, he has called upon both the Government and London Mayor Boris Johnson to invest in local infrastructure, claiming that this will encourage an even larger number of firms to relocate to the area.
He says; “This is going to create a lot of money and we need that money to be spent on transport in the area, not in other parts of London.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s spent here or in places like Barking or Dagenham – as long as it’s east London.
“Roads here will be under pressure as we develop and improved transport would create jobs and opportunities.”
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[…] next goal. “We want to build the site far beyond the boundary of the current plans,” Xu said last month. “That’s what we want to see in east London and we’re fully confident […]