Britain’s biggest wholesale market, New Covent Garden, is to be redeveloped to create thousands of homes in a £2bn project.
The fruit, vegetable and flower market in Vauxhall, south London, is part of the Nine Elms regeneration zone, where 18,000 homes are being built in the coming decade.
The 57-acre site opened in 1974, with traders moving from the historic Covent Garden area near the Strand in central London. It supplies 40 per cent of London restaurants’ and retail markets’ produce, and three-quarters of all fresh flowers in the capital pass through the market.
Wandsworth Council on Wednesday night granted permission for a consortium comprising St Modwen Properties, Vinci plc and the Covent Garden Market Authority to redevelop the plot, creating 3,000 homes and new market buildings, as well as offices, shops and restaurants.
Bill Oliver, St Modwen chief executive and the chairman of the joint venture company Vinci St Modwen, said the decision meant the scheme would “contribute to the long-term transformation of London’s newest residential and commercial quarter”.
The new market facilities would be “world class”, he promised. The developers will create 500,000 sq ft of space for the market’s 200 business tenants, which employ 2,500 people.
Pam Alexander, the Market Authority’s chairman, said that it would become “a key landmark at the heart of Nine Elms”.
“New Covent Garden Market is central to supplying London’s fresh produce” and the buildings would be “a new Food Quarter for London”, she said.
The plans include a public market to attract visitors. Development work will start early next year.
Also on Wednesday, Whitehall granted permission for work to start on the extension of the Northern Line to serve the Nine Elms area. Two new stations will be created at Nine Elms and Battersea.
The link will be partly funded through private finance contributions from local developers. One of the largest contributors will be Battersea Power Station, which is being regenerated to create a new town centre.
Rob Tincknell, chief executive of the Battersea Power Station Development Company, said: “Historically, the lack of transport connections to the site has been the biggest hurdle to overcome to ensure the successful restoration and redevelopment of the iconic power station and the surrounding area.”