VISIONING VAUXHALL MAY 2016 Allies and Morrison Urban Practitioners 2 FOREWORD Vauxhall is changing. You can see that from the cranes and construction work going on. But, I know many people wonder what it will feel like in a few years, when the cranes have gone and there are thousands of new homes, new places to work, shop and eat, as well as places to visit such as new art galleries and a cinema. The council wants to make sure that local people really feel the benefit of the investment that’s bringing homes, jobs and business opportunities, an extension to Wyvil Primary School, and improvements to our local parks and open spaces. It’s important we recognise and cherish our borough’s history and culture and use this opportunity to shape the places we live, work and play in. Since last summer we’ve been asking people who live, work and travel through Vauxhall what they think about the changes, what they value about the area now and how its open spaces, shops and transport could be improved. We’ve used that public feedback in our discussions with Transport for London (TfL) who, in March, published the results of their consultation on plans to remove the one-way traffic system and replace it with two way streets. Two thirds of people who responded were positive about the proposals and you can read the results in more detail here https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/roads/vauxhall-cross. Lambeth Council has always been clear that it supports improving this busy transport interchange to make it safer and more welcoming for pedestrians and cyclists. I hope you’ll take the opportunity to look at the images here that give a flavour of the exciting changes happening in Vauxhall. Sue Foster Strategic Director Neighbourhoods and Growth Lambeth Council April 2016 VISIONING 3 VAUXHALL PURPOSE OF THE DOCUMENT Last year, we asked people who live, work and travel through Vauxhall about how the area could look and feel in the future. The images and plans in this document which help visualise the changes coming to Vauxhall reflect those opinions. They set out nine high level ideas for how the centre of Vauxhall should evolve. They recognise the principles laid out in Lambeth Council’s 2013 Vauxhall Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which provides a guide for the development of the area. They also reference the new buildings with planning permission as well as TfL’s proposals for removing the one-way system and improving the transport interchange. These ideas will be referenced in the Local Plan review, which gets underway later in the year, and they will help to guide future development and investment in the area. 4 CONTENTS Vauxhall history....and today 6 Vauxhall is changing 8 A better district centre 12 A cultural destination 14 Jobs and homes 17 What you have told us 18 Ideas.... 24 Streets for people 26 Supporting existing businesses 30 Shops and businesses 32 The viaduct as an opportunity 36 Connecting to the river 38 A network of quality spaces and routes 42 A better transport interchange 46 The future 50 Plans within this document are produced using Ordnance Survey mapping provided by the London Borough of Lambeth (© Crown Copyright and database right 2014. Ordnance Survey 0100031673) VISIONING 5 VAUXHALL VAUXHALL HISTORY After draining the marshes, Vauxhall’s farm land became the market garden of London. Later it was home to the world’s most famous pleasure gardens. Map of Vauxhall Manor (The Vauxhall Society) ‘A General Prospect of Vaux-Hall Gardens’, a painting by Wooden houses and shop fronts in Vauxhall High Street. S Wale and engraved by John S Miller (1750s) Photograph by Alice B. Walker, dated 1898 The marshlands of Vauxhall were given to a loyal French Soldier called Falkes de Breaute by King John. He built a manor house called Fulke’s Hall and the area was Gardens on the grounds of the old Falkes Hall By this period Vauxhall was heavily named after the estate. Following this the were opened in the 1660s. In 1728 Jonathan industrialised and the air quality across area became known as Faukeshall, Foxhall Tyers transformed the area from a park London was poor. Construction of the and Faux Well and then finally Vauxhall. into gardens and a place for entertainment, iconic Battersea Power Station began in South Lambeth Road and Wandworth including dancing and orchestras. Westminster 1929, and the full power station came Road follow ancient routes into London Bridge opened in 1750 to improve access to into operation between 1953-1955. at this time. the gardens from central London. 1200s 1660 - 1850s 1900s - 1950 1500s - 1600s 1800s - 1900s 1960s - 2000s From the 1500s, locals drained more In 1800 Vauxhall was still a quiet village There was significant rebuilding after and more of the marshland. This in the countryside on the edge of the war and many Victorian homes created fertile farm land and the area London. By the middle of the 1800s which had been damaged by bombs in became London’s market garden. the industrial revolution brought the Blitz were no longer safe. London There were no bridges nearby so railways to Vauxhall and factories County Council built many new housing everything crossed the river by boat opened. Farmland was replaced by estates. Some businesses moved out to be delivered into London. housing for the factory workers. of the area, such as Marmite and Royal Doulton factories, and others moved in such as government offices and the New Covent Garden Market. View upstream of the Thames from Vauxhall Stairs A View of Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens in 1785. The Top: 1950, the waterfront to the north-east of Vauxhall looking towards Battersea, with a boatman about to orchestra stand, shown here with singers and musicians Bridge occupied by Esso and assorted warehousing. The collect two finely-dressed passengers (c.1770) entertaining the public in the centre. site is now the MI6 building. Bottom: 1910, the first station was opened here in 1838 and called Nine Elms. Historic images on this page reproduced by kind permission of Lambeth Archives department 6 VAUXHALL HISTORY ... AND TODAY During consultation you told us about your favourite places and the character of the area that is important to protect Albert Embankment cafes Vauxhall’s own elephant and castle above Starbucks Vauxhall Pleasure Garden and the Tea House Theatre Vauxhall Park Italo Cafe in Bonnington Square Vauxhall station building Vauxhall City Farm Vauxhall Bus Station Vauxwall climbing centre Kennington Lane’s independent shops Bonnington Square’s ‘secret’ swings’ Vauxhall’s riverfront VISIONING 7 VAUXHALL VAUXHALL IS CHANGING ... The Opportunity Area Planning with a cluster of tall buildings, to Battersea Power Station, Framework (OAPF) 2012 for the well connected to the river and with a new Nine Elms Station in Vauxhall Nine Elms Battersea parks, with exemplary streets Lambeth. area outlined the then Mayor of and green spaces. London’s plan to provide homes The road network around and jobs. The Nine Elms Vauxhall 3,500 new homes and 8,000 Vauxhall’s public transport Partnership was established to jobs will be created in Vauxhall. interchange will be returned to oversee and help deliver changes New developments will include two-way working, with eight new to the area. Stretching from a cinema, new public spaces, the pedestrian crossings and joined Lambeth Bridge down to the expansion of the Wyvil primary up cycle routes. There will be Battersea Power Station, this is school, and a swimming pool a new traffic-free public square one of the largest regeneration with public access, along with outside the rail station and a areas in London, covering 227 more shops, including a new brand new bus station with hectares across both Lambeth super store, new offices and modern facilities. and Wandsworth boroughs. places to eat. The Thames Tideway Tunnel is The Vauxhall Supplementary TfL has major investment plans a major new sewer urgently Planning Document (SPD) to radically improve the strategic needed to protect the tidal followed in 2013, outlining transport network including River Thames from pollution. In Lambeth Council’s 10 principles £40m alterations to the Vauxhall this major programme for transforming Vauxhall into a existing Vauxhall Underground will deliver new public space vibrant district centre. Instead Station and the £1bn Northern on the Albert Embankment of an area dominated by a one- Line Extension linking the foreshore and improvements way traffic system, the area will underground from Kennington and greening to public space be walkable and cycle-friendly, further along the Thames Path towards Battersea. Vauxhall Gyratory - Proposed Transport, Pedestrian and Cycle New pedestrian CS5 integrated crossing KENNINGTON LANE Improvements into new scheme Improved GLYN STREET (subject to future crossing New public space design and trafc STOP US and opportunity B modelling work) DURHAM STREET for development Reversal of the one way system ALBERT to reduce queues EMBANKMENT on the approach to the viaduct BUS ONLY BRIDGEFOOT HARLEYFORD ROAD BUS S ONLY TO S BU More direct pedestrian P and cyclist movement at key junctions South Lambeth Road Quietway integrated into new scheme Improved access SOUTH LAMBETH PLACE SOUTH LAMBETH ROAD to the river New bus station facility designed VAUXHALL GROVE KEY around two way operation Cycle Superhighway 5 (CS5) Trafc island More direct vehicle New cycle lane movement through BONDWAY Vauxhall Development site with approved planning permission Reduced vehicle Connected cycling speeds provisions to the Signalised pedestrian