Planning permission is now being sought for the first two phases of Barking Riverside, a nationally significant regeneration project for which transport planner JMP has designed the streets and the integration of local transport.

An initial 4,000 homes are planned on the bank of the Thames at Barking Reach - ultimately there will be some 10,800 homes housing 26,000 people – and with the planning application for the first two phases come the first visual impressions of the 150ha regeneration.

As well as new homes on the 2km river frontage site, previously occupied by three power stations, there will ultimately be new schools, shopping, parkland and excellent transport connections. Some 40 percent of the site, at the heart of the Thames Gateway, will be designated as open space.

JMP has been the street designer for these first two stages. The consultant’s involvement has encompassed the design of high quality streets, shared surfaces and other public and private spaces, incorporation of step-free designs and integration of East London Transit and Docklands Light Railway infrastructure and interchanges into street space. There will also be improvements to access from the A13.

JMP, which also provided design advice on car parking and secure on-site cycle parking, has worked as part of a multi-disciplinary team of master planners, architects, landscape architects and engineers. This team includes Maxwan (masterplan), Sheppard Robson (stage 1 architecture), Maccreanor Lavington/ KCAP (stage 2 architecture), Hyder Consulting (highways/ geotechnical engineers) and Gustafson Porter (landscape architecture).

The developer, Barking Riverside Ltd., is a joint venture between national regeneration agency English Partnerships and Bellway Homes, working together with the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham.