TfL's Head of City Planning joins our April 'Infrastructure 2021' forum

Tfl's Head of City Planning, Alex Williams, will be speaking at our April Infrastructure 2021 forum along with Zurich Airport, Newcastle City Council, West Midlands Combined Authority and architects, Grimshaw.

Alex will be giving us details of how TfL's investment in office space and its' work in developing the area of South London which incorporates housing and community development through the extension of the Bakerloo Line, will be important to the Capital post pandemic.

Southwark Council has now given TfL the green light to construct a new net zero- carbon office development above Southwark Tube station as part of its wider commercial development plans to create long-term sustainable revenue. The project is set to be one of the greenest and healthiest large-scale commercial buildings in the UK, and once built will provide office space for a range of businesses as part of the city's green recovery.

The world-leading development will use excess heat directly from the Tube network to help reduce energy consumption, and has been designed to achieve BREEAM Outstanding and WELL Platinum - only the second building in the UK to do so. The plans make improvements for the local community with extensive greenery, widened pavements and cycle space.

The scheme will create a new landmark for the area and will be completed in the 2020s. it will offer a central London base to a range of businesses and industries that are looking to be part of London's green recovery, from well established companies to start-ups.

TfL has also been speaking about its partnership with Bosch and how it has helped (with the use of AI) to improve road safety, create new approaches to tackling Tube noise, optimise traffic signalling and bring greater insight in how smoothing traffic flow can improve air quality. In one small-scale trial in Lambeth, artificial intelligence and digital imaging was used to help identify near-miss incidents at a pedestrian crossing. This has helped lay foundations for potential lifesaving future work that will bring London ever closer to Vision Zero, the target of no deaths or serious injuries on London's roads by 2041.

The Northern Line Extension, which currently connects with the Bakerloo Line at Waterloo and Elephant and Castle, passed a major milestone at Christmas, after test passenger trains successfully completed the journey through the new tunnels from Kennington to the new station at Battersea Power Station.

Transport for London has been describing proposals by Connected Living London - the long-term partnership between Grainger plc and Transport for London - to deliver 139 new homes for rent with 40 per cent affordable housing, (now given the go-ahead by Lambeth Council's Planning Committee).

It states that a new mixed-use development of new rental homes and more than 2,7000 sqm of light industrial workspace in north Lambeth will help to provide quality rental housing for the area along with commercial opportunities to help support the community. Building on the area's history of industry, this space offers an opportunity for a range of businesses, which could include the likes of a fashion studio, photography workspace or cycle repair shops. The proposed creation of a central mews street can also be used to bring the community together by hosting pop-up markets and street food vendors.

TfL says that the development at Montford Place is the second of CLL's schemes to be given the go-ahead at planning committee. Since it was set up in July 2019, CLL has submitted four planning applications. The plans for Nine Elms, located close to the Northern Line extension and Arnos Grove, situated next to the Tube station, are due to be heard at planning committees in the coming months. If all four are approved, 1,200 new homes would be delivered across the city, with each scheme individually delivering 40 per cent affordable housing.

Situated within ten minutes' walking distance of Vauxhall, Kennington and Oval stations, the development's location means residents will have a number of different ways to travel sustainably using the public transport network, including the Tube, rail network and buses. The buildings have roof gardens, biodiverse roofs, hedges and bird boxes to help provide shelter and roosting sites for birds.