On Wednesday 4th November, Thames Gateway Forum will run a series of investment and development site visits, combining a high level seminar with a location visit.
All site visits are guided and include transport by executive coach that will depart from the O2 unless otherwise stated. Some tours (indicated with am/pm) will run in the morning and the afternoon of 4 November, giving delegates the opportunity to attend two.
1. High Speed 1, North Kent, Medway, Swale and Ebbsfleet (SOLD OUT - tour starts at 8.00am)
Domestic trains are now running on High Speed 1, the UK’s first high speed rail line. The largest construction project in the UK for over 100 years, High Speed 1 is radically changing the time-geography of North Kent and transforming the area’s connectivity to London, the Olympics and mainland Europe. Developments around Ebbsfleet International station are set to benefit in particular, but there’s much more to North Kent to than Ebbsfleet Valley alone. Award winning projects like Ingress Park show what can be achieved. On this tour, you will travel high speed from London’s impressive St. Pancras International to Ebbsfleet International at 140mph on board Southeastern’s new Hitachi Javelin train. From Ebbsfleet International, the tour splits, with delegates able to visit either:
a. The Observatory at Ebbsfleet Valley, The Bridge and Crossways projects in Kent Thameside, or
b. Head to Medway and visit Medway Park: view £11m development of Medway’s sporting hub, Medway University Campus, Chatham Maritime and Rochester Riverside
c. Swale, taking in the Kent Science Park, London Array wind farm and the award winning Queensborough and Rushenden project
There are a range of developments and opportunities included in both these tours – delegates will be able to follow regeneration from London to the sea and see how investment in new communities is taking shape.
2. Olympic Park and the Lee Valley (AM/PM - 9.30am SOLD OUT and 2.00pm)
An opportunity to visit the site of the new Olympic stadium and sporting facilities currently under construction for the 2012 Games and the Olympic fringe area. This tour will include a briefing on the development of Olympic sites and the legacy of the Games for East London. It will place the Olympics in the context of the transformation of the Lower Lee Valley and the work of the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation in the fringe, looking at projects such as Canning Town and Stratford where regeneration offers significant investment opportunities.
3. Royal Docks & Barking Riverside (AM/PM - 9.30am and 1.00pm)
Follow the route from London’s Royal Docks, where historic wharfs and contaminated industrial land is being reclaimed by new communities through to Barking Riverside where the largest investment in residential development and transport infrastructure across the Thames Gateway is transforming a deprived part of the Capital. Then go on to Dagenham Dock and see the ground-breaking London Sustainable Industries Park being created by the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation. Visit Closed Loop, one of the park’s first occupants, a flagship plastics recycling facility. An innovative green business this demonstrates how the Thames Gateway offers opportunities for investment in new green industries and how the public and private sectors are collaborating to regenerate redundant industrial sites.
4. River Tour (AM - tour starts at 9.30am)
Take one of the famous Thames Clipper boats from the O2, passing historic Greenwich and the Thames Barrier to Dartford. View from the river, centuries of history and the transformation of the Gateway region through the new communities, transport infrastructure and commercial development along its banks.
5. Canary Wharf, Greenwich Peninsula and Rotherhithe (AM/PM - 9.30am. Afternoon tour SOLD OUT)
Starting with Canary Wharf, London’s stunning ‘Manhattan’ business district that was carved out of industrial wasteland in the 1980s and following on to Rotherhithe, Greenwich Peninsula and Woolwich where the history of dockside communities and industrial heritage is being re-shaped with new residential and commercial developments. At Greenwich Peninsula the O2 and Peninsula Square are already London landmarks, with the first new commercial development already complete and Ravensbourne College opening next year.
6. Thurrock and South Essex (PM - tour starts at 1.00pm)
Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation’s regeneration of the Borough, including the development of emerging and existing sectors, provides a range of investment opportunities. The Development Corporation has particularly far reaching plans for Grays and Purfleet, creating sustainable communities with distinct commercial and industrial areas and the educational facilities required to develop a skilled workforce. Key to Purfleet is the Royal Opera House Production Park, which sparks the emergence of an exciting creative and cultural sector, diversifying the Borough’s offering and creating a hub to attract related businesses.
VIEW FULL CONFERENCE PROGRAMME - TUESDAY 3 NOVEMBER
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