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Last week I took part in a joint visit to the Ruhr Valley in Germany to see an area called Emscher Park, which is a regeneration programme that has already run for 30 years. The area is named after the River Emscher that runs through the valley. The trip was organised jointly by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and the Thames Gateway Executive and was short but intensive and inspirational. 

At the end of the 19th century and for most of the 20th century a whole series of heavy industries were established along the valley, in particular coal mines and steel works. There are still a few active yards left but not many; the last coal mine in the Ruhr Valley is to close soon. What is so interesting about the Emscher Park is the way it has taken regeneration forward over the last thirty years. The visionaries and programme managers have sought to build the future from a past heritage, so you are able to see an array of projects that are of outstanding quality at the same time as being creative and imaginative in their reuse of buildings and existing landscapes.

On the first evening we ate in a restaurant that was a converted electricity substation. That doesn’t sound like an atmospheric or romantic setting, does it?  But actually the conversion had been very skilfully done which made it a very interesting environment, full of liveliness and character.  

We also saw a blast furnace that was becoming the centre of a high technology business park, as well as a colliery where a new further education academy was being built in a style reminiscent of the pit props of that colliery. We saw an old factory shed turned into a concert hall with three venues and we saw the sensitive adaptation of a pit head and mining shaft built into the centre of a new headquarters for a housing association. 

These were stunning projects and they were all set in a beautiful landscape setting: the history and heritage of the area blending seamlessly with a powerful and apparent vision for the future of the area. Although, as we learned later, achieving this standard of regeneration was not as straightforward as it seemed.

The River Emscher itself has a lot to answer for. It has operated as almost an open sewer for the last 100 years and only now, surprisingly given the scale of expenditure involved, are the authorities turning their attention to providing a new solution for sewerage in the Emscher so that the river can be cleaned up.  This work is about to start.

We also learned that the economic drivers which are the Thames Gateway’s advantage, the 2012 Olympic Games, Canary Wharf, Ebbsfleet, Stratford and London Gateway (the deepwater port in Thurrock) don’t exist for the Emscher Park in the same way, and so producing economic change has been much harder than securing physical regeneration and beautiful landscape.

Let me give you an example. Unemployment in the Ruhr is still around 18 percent.  Employment in the Thames Gateway is much closer to the UK national average of three percent. To be fair on Emscher Park, in Germany’s national unemployment level hovers at around seven or eight percent but nevertheless in Emscher Park it was surprising that it was still twice as much as that.  

I left Germany fascinated by what we had seen and inspired by some real visionary thinking.  As is the case here, regeneration needs long term commitment and dedication. Emscher Park is already thirty years into its active regeneration cycle yet there are still many major projects to complete and obstacles to overcome. Some old buildings lie vacant with no plans in place to for their use. When it started out, Emscher Park didn’t have all of the ingredients it needed to achieve a truly sustainable community but by insisting on the highest quality design and standards of delivery for the regeneration, it is has used the assets it has to create an impact and achieve a truly inspiring environment. The Ruhr Valley can be proud of its new landscape but not complacent of the task still ahead.

Thames Gateway’s in its infancy by comparison yet miles ahead in other ways. It is going to take twenty five or thirty years to complete the transformation we are seeking but I’m heartened by the fact that we have most of the ingredients for success. 

The visit to Emscher Park left me and the other delegates from the Thames Gateway Strategic Partnership with a clear and resounding message: we have a duty to Thames Gateway to help it reach its full potential and we must all strive to ensure the quality of design and delivery reaches and exceeds the highest international standards. Nothing less will do.

The news that Crossrail is going ahead is a huge boost to the Thames Gateway and I’m absolutely delighted about it. Crossrail is the development of the railway across London that has been talked about for the best part of thirty years. For my entire career I have been listening to the story behind Crossrail. How expensive it is, but how valuable it would be to the capital city if it could go ahead, and now we have that decision. This is excellent news.

The line is going to have two spurs to the west: from Maidenhead and from Heathrow. In the East it will also split after leaving Whitechapel, arriving in the Gateway on one hand at Stratford before heading into south Essex on the north side of the river and on the other at the Isle of Dogs, Custom House (where the Excel Centre is), Woolwich and then Abbey Wood. These last two stops are crucial centres of new housing and new employment in the Thames Gateway. The station at Woolwich offers the opportunity for a connection between Crossrail and the Docklands Light Railway.

This is probably the single biggest boost to the Thames Gateway there has been since the idea of the Thames Gateway was formally put into planning guidance back in 1995. Today, 82,000 people work in Canary Wharf, and the Canary Wharf Group has been saying for some time now that it has the scope to grow to 120,000 employees, which would take it to its capacity on the tube network and Docklands Light Railway. Now, with Crossrail, Canary Wharf has the capacity to grow to 190,000 employees.

When you consider that we want to create 180,000 new jobs in Thames Gateway, the capacity for an additional 50,000 extra jobs at Canary Wharf brought by Crossrail, brings us a huge step towards reaching that target. A year ago we said there were four crucial economic drivers necessary for the Thames Gateway to be a success. These were the Olympic Park at Stratford, Canary Wharf, London Gateway (the deep-sea container port in Thurrock) and the other ports of the Thames Gateway and Ebbsfleet Valley: the heartbeats of the Gateway’s economy. The first and the last of which are being built around new High Speed 1 international rail stations at Ebbsfleet and Stratford.  That new line is due to open in a matter of weeks, with domestic services following in 2009. 

A year ago we were certain that Canary Wharf was going to continue to grow steadily and we were also celebrating the fact that we had secured the Olympic Games for 2012.  It was an exciting and motivating time. However, just look what we’ve achieved since then.  One year on we’re in an even more advanced stage, now able to say that all four of those economic heartbeats have been secured. The decision to go ahead with Crossrail amplifies those successes and is a huge boost for the Thames Gateway: fantastic news for people living in the Gateway, the Greater South East and the whole of the UK.

Terry Farrell and I met at a debate hosted by David Morley Architects last week, contrasting our respective visions for the Thames Gateway. We were joined by others with an interest in regeneration and the Gateway, including Dave Wardle from the Environment Agency, and some members of the press.

It was an engaging debate. Terry, Dave and I each gave presentations about our visions of what we believe is possible in the Gateway. In truth, there is considerable common ground in the direction we each propose: a shared sense of the unique drama that the Thames Gateway's landscape - informed by its heritage - projects; a passion to see the quality of all design in the Gateway improved, and a strong desire to see the Gateway regarded as a special place to live.

As I see it, there are only two significant differences in our visions: Terry's emphasis on the dominance of London contrasts with my wish to see the whole of the Gateway benefit from change. The second difference is Terry's idea of building a barrage of islands across the mouth of the estuary. He says this would deal with risks from flooding and provide a new road river crossing from Southend to Sheppey and the Hoo Peninsula. But above all, Terry's barrage is his way of showing that we need to be bold in our ambitions and visionary with the opportunities and obstacles the Gateway provides. 

Terry also recognises that bold projects are not cheap. Although, he claims to have a number of private sector players offering to build his barrier at no cost to the public purse. I would like to hear more about these organisations, they could be useful in my line of work!

I lead the Thames Gateway Executive – part of the department for Communities & Local Government that works on behalf of Government in the Gateway. We share our office by Canary Wharf with Dave Wardle's Environment Agency Thames Estuary Programme. This co-location is no accident; we work very closely with Dave's team and keep in touch with progress on the Thames Estuary 2100 project (TE2100). This partnership works well and ensures that the environmental impact of development is always at the forefront of our minds.

TE2100 will look to establish how best to manage flood risk in the Gateway for the next 100 years. In his presentation, Dave explained a barrage (like the one Terry suggests) would bring an end to the Thames Estuary as it is today, by turning back most if not all of the tide. Environmentally this would have significant repercussions; effectively damming the river to form a huge lake. Such an idea has been considered by Dave's team but would only be necessary as a last resort if we experience extreme effects of climate changes resulting in water level rises of more than four metres. As Dave said in his presentation, if we were faced with this scenario then most of East Anglia would be under water. As an island, the UK would be facing greater coastal issues that estuary flooding in the Thames. We trust that action by all public, private and community partners will prevent that nightmare from becoming a reality.

As for Terry’s barrier, I am reluctant to completely discount it but I would set three tests for it:

1. Does the Environment Agency recommend it to reduce flood risk?
2. Will the private sector build it at no cost to the public purse?
3. Will the communities in the Estuary impacted by the new structure support it?

When these three tests are met, I’m sure no one will question that it will be time to build a barrage.

Two weeks ago Dickens World, the new visitor attraction based on Charles Dickens, opened its doors to the public.  Based in Medway, it is the product of a £62 million investment in the leisure industry and friends who have been tell me it’s both well done and fun.  From what I hear, queues were running around the block throughout the half terms holidays and reaching nearly full capacity throughout the week.  I’m certainly keen to take the family as soon as possible.

Charles Dickens spent part of his childhood in Chatham in Medway and in his later life he lived just across the boundary in Gad’s Hill. The family gravestones are in Cooling churchyard, the setting for the opening to Great Expectations.

I’m really pleased to see this development in Medway. To become ‘City of Learning Culture, Tourism and Enterprise’ is the Council’s ambition and Dickens World fits the bill very well.

I was in Medway on a visit last week. It was high tide on the river, the sun was shining and Medway was looking stunning - a real flavour of things to come across the Gateway.

I understand why people have concerns about high density development. And I agree we need to manage density carefully and that good local transport links are required. The two often go together of course. Good quality housing schemes of higher density make for good town centre living, and enable viable public transport systems into town.

Some of you have make some very good points: the trick is to invest in getting the management right and we also need high quality open spaces and to keep in touch with our heritage as we move forward. Rest assured, we understand the importance of getting all of the balances right for the future of the Gateway.

Seb has certainly got us talking about the 2012 Olympic logo.  Opinion here in the Thames Gateway Executive divides much like that in the rest of the country: between those who like modern, bold and intriguing; and those who seek the traditional, British and confident.  I'm with Seb on this much: a logo that provokes hot debate is much better than one we find immediately acceptable and equally forgettable.

As for my opinion; well, I like modern bold and intriguing and the logo does make me think of competition and of Britain.  I'm not struck by the pink though so I'm glad it comes in other colours too.

What I also think is it's about time we got on with celebrating that we've won the Games - especially in the Thames Gateway where we'll be hosting London 2012.  The event brings us opportunities for new and better jobs, investment in culture, promotion of active and healthy lifestyles for all, and renewed confidence in ourselves as a vital economic region of the country.

Love the logo or hate it let's talk about how great it is to host one of the world's greatest sporting events.

Thanks for the comments on Basildon. I'm really keen for the town centre regeneration to go ahead. This needs to be about getting high quality development into the centre and providing a variety of housing opportunities (not just flats) as well as making sure the quality of the environment, whether that's the street scene or the open spaces, is attractive and sets a new high standard of design for the future. If we are to build truly sustainable communities we need town centres that offer people a full range of facilities near to where they live. Many town centres in the Gateway need investment, and Basildon is in the forefront of attracting it.

The news on Shellhaven is also good for Basildon . There will be new jobs there and I'm confident the new port and logistics centre will mean Basildon becomes an even more desirable place to live.

I know it's been a while since I blogged on this subject but just to set the record straight, Bishop Michael and I met shortly after his interview about the soul of the Thames Gateway to talk about what he said, and we were agreed. We both think there is a risk the communities of the Gateway could get left behind, and we are both determined this should not happen. Bishop Michael is very supportive of the Gateway project and keen for it to be successful. Communities like Thamesmead and Woolwich need our joint help in feeling involved and included in the changes taking place and we're keen to ensure they are.

We’re advertising for a Director of Delivery for the Thames Gateway to head up our new Delivery team. This is part of the new structure of the Thames Gateway Executive; we’re shifting the emphasis from strategy to delivery to ensure we can accelerate progress. The role is as simple as it is complex; ensure we deliver 180,000 jobs and 160,000 homes in a stunning and low-carbon setting; and make sure the existing communities of the Gateway feel included and involved in the changes that affect them.

Our preference is for someone with experience in the development or regeneration fields; ideally someone who’s worked in both public and private sectors and has negotiated complex investment or regeneration deals. We’re being helped by Veredus who’re doing an executive search and the job details are on their website and ours .

Closing date for applications is 4 June.  Who wouldn’t want to work on the largest and most exciting regeneration programme in Western Europe?

Increasingly people are seeing creative opportunities in the Gateway. I'm also pleased we have the University College for the Creative Arts (also known as KIAD) based in the Gateway.  I'm very supportive of their bid for University status.  The work produced there is of outstanding quality.  Having a creative University on the doorstep must encourage more artists to live and set up their studios in the Gateway and it should be a boost for the creative industries sector too.

Yesterday Transport and Communities ministers gave planning permission for the new port at Shellhaven and its associated commercial centre, together known as London Gateway. This is very welcome news.

The Dubai Ports project involves building a new international deep water port with seven container vessel berths located over 2.3 km of quayside on the Thames. This is a huge development confirming the Thames Gateway in its modern ports role, re-configuring the Thames estuary as the centre of trade into the UK, as it has been over many centuries. The associated logistics and commercial centre has the potential to bring thousands of job opportunities to the whole of the Gateway and we believe it will generate further positive inward investment decisions. This development is rightly seen as an economic transformer.

The jobs at the new commercial and logistics centre will be readily accessible to local people, and the developers are committed to extensive training opportunities for the communities of South Essex and farther afield.

Problems of ensuring good transport access to the port have been discussed and Dubai Ports has worked with the Highways Agency and local partners including Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation and Thurrock Council to make sure these problems are overcome in phases.

This economic boost shows how delivery in the Thames Gateway is starting to accelerate.

Fantastic - the new Medway Universities boat race.
 
I wish I had thought of that when I was at Medway. One event that says so much about Medway - three Universities, a river as evocative as the Thames, high ambition and real excitement about growing student numbers. This is truly an event for the Thames Gateway to celebrate and call its own.
 
Like the Thames, the River Medway is tidal and the stretch over which the races will be rowed is beautiful, carving its way under the Channel Tunnel rail line and the M2 bridge (both very striking and both very tall) and ending up at Rochester castle. It's going to be a super day on 26th May.
 
And it's great to have two races: the men's race between Kent and Greenwich universities and the women's between Kent and Canterbury Christ Church. Competitive collaboration at its best! The Universities at Medway campus is a beacon of what the Thames Gateway is all about; increasing aspiration and providing new opportunities to learn and become the best.
 
I went to Oxford (many years ago!) and the Oxford and Cambridge Boat race was a highlight every year. My friend Pam Smith was in the women's eights in the first years of serious women's rowing in 1975. My greatest river triumph was at the gentler sport of punting. I remember once clinging womanfully to my pole embedded in mud as my punt gently floated off without me.
 
Better luck to all the oarsmen and women of Medway!

The National Audit Office published their report on the Thames Gateway yesterday after 18 months of work. The team looked at how the Government co-ordinates and supports the Gateway, acknowledging the scale and ambition of the programme and the considerable progress made in the last four years.

Their report is balanced and I largely agree with what it says. The NAO team compared our progress against an ideal model of regeneration. Against 48 indicators 40 were either well advanced or under way leaving eight in need of improvement.

The headlines were rather different: a typical headline yesterday was: ‘homes plan in danger of collapse’. Call it journalistic licence, or just plain wrong, nowhere in the NAO report does it say that. It does say the rate of house building needs to double (from 6,000 homes per year to 12,500 per year), and that is true, but that’s how regeneration works. The NAO are clear this is a thirty year programme and so far we’ve been at it for four years. In the early years of such programmes you have to spend time buying land and preparing sites; then you can build, as is about to happen in Barking Riverside and Rochester Riverside, to name just two.

But the key message in the report is the NAO want to see better cross-Government co-ordination. They want to see all government departments pulling in the same direction across the Gateway and that’s a reasonable demand. They make eight key recommendations and we have a cross-Government meeting set up to discuss them shortly.

On 13 June the Public Accounts Committee will consider the report and interview us about it. When I say us I mean, Peter Housden, Permanent Secretary of Communities and Local Government, my colleague Richard McCarthy, responsible for national policy on planning, housing and regeneration, and me. Now there's a diary date of note.

Douglas Alexander's recent announcement that the major UK developer Berkeley Homes is to provide an extra station for Crossrail at Woolwich is a really important announcement for the Thames Gateway, assuming Crossrail goes ahead. No other transport measure will make more difference than Crossrail. Unsurprisingly it's always been the most expensive, which is the obvious problem.

Local people in Woolwich were disappointed when the bill now going through Parliament took the route on the south side of the Thames to Abbey Wood, through Woolwich but not stopping there. It was excluded because it would have added yet another £186 million on the overall cost.

Instead now there's a plan to reduce the cost of building the station and get the developers who will benefit from it to pay for it - good plan. And the announcement even comes in time to get the station added into the parliamentary bill.

When I started work for the Greater London Council Planning and Transport in 1975, one of the very first things I heard about was the plan to build Crossrail: a railway under London from west to east. It was understood then, just as it is now, how this would transform travel across the capital but it was also clear just how difficult it would be to execute and fund. More than 31 years later it feels like the time has come - with a bill going through Parliament this is clearly not whether Crossrail should be built but instead how and when it will be built.

Crossrail will run from Heathrow to Canary Wharf before it divides and goes east along each side of the Thames estuary. There are already 82,000 people working at Canary Wharf. Without Crossrail we expect that to grow to 120,000 over the next 10 years but with Crossrail there could be 190,000 people working there in 2016.

I hope this decision is bringing a smile to local people in Woolwich. In 2009 the Docklands Light Railway extension to Woolwich Arsenal opens, providing improved transport links with City Airport and another crossing of the Thames. And in time, perhaps Crossrail will bring further benefit.