London Docklands Development Corporation
Encyclopedia
The London Docklands Development Corporation
(LDDC) was a quango
agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London
. During its eighteen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an area of 8.5 square miles (22 km²) in the London Boroughs of Newham
, Tower Hamlets
and Southwark
. LDDC helped to create Canary Wharf
, Surrey Quays shopping centre, London City Airport
, ExCeL Exhibition Centre
and the Docklands Light Railway
, bringing more than 120,000 new jobs to the Docklands and making the area highly sought after for housing. Although initially fiercely resisted by local councils and residents, today it is generally regarded as having been a success and is now used as an exemplar of large-scale regeneration, although tensions between older and more recent residents remain.
in 1802, East India Docks
, Millwall Dock
, Surrey Docks and then the Royal Docks
, thousands of people were employed in international trade, warehousing and related trades. Over time, manufacturing industry also moved into the Docklands, including large coal and gas plants and storage, the Pura Lard factory, flour mills, and many other businesses.
During World War II
, the docks area was heavily bombed during the Blitz
, in an attempt to destroy the British economy. This crippled or damaged much of the infrastructure and many older buildings were lost.
There was a brief resurgence during the 1950s but the docks were empty by 1980. The main reason was containerisation: goods used to be brought into the UK by relatively small ships, unloaded by hand, from the 1970s onwards most trade was carried within intermodal container
s (shipping containers) or by truck on roll-on/roll-off ferries. The second reason was labour costs and flexibility - the UK's dockworkers held on to outmoded pay and conditions structures which left London at a competitive disadvantage compared to overseas ports.This was also the time when air cargo was becoming the dominant mode of transport in the Uk with Heathrow being the most important port by value.
Manufacturing industry no longer had to close to be the river as raw materials were being moved by road moved to cheaper locations within the UK, leaving the docks with less trade.This was particularly evident with processed foods.
Between 1961 and 1971, almost 83,000 jobs were lost in the five boroughs in the Docklands area (Greenwich, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Southwark). A large percentage of these jobs were from large transnational corporations. The decline was heightened by government policies which favoured the growth of industry outside London. High unemployment was accompanied by population decline. Whilst inner London lost 10% of its population between 1961 and 1971, the figures for Tower Hamlets and Southwark were 18% and 16% respectively.
The housing in the Docklands area was nearly all council-owned terraced housing and flats. There was no commercial infrastructure such as banks or building societies or any new office accommodation. This presented a unique challenge for Government - how to completely replace an industry on a vast scale and make the contaminated, depressed docklands an attractive place to live and work.
, Michael Heseltine
, under section 136 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980
. It was financed by a grant from central government and from the proceeds from the disposal of land for development.
LDDC had very little money, but it did have three crucial levers to deliver regeneration. First of all it had land ownership: this enabled it to enter into commercial deals with developers. Secondly it had planning powers: this was a controversial move, which angered local boroughs, but which allowed, for example, the outline planning permission for Canary Wharf
to specify only the height and footprint of buildings, enabling the development to move quickly to satisfy demand. Finally LDDC had the power to broker and enter into contracts.
Additionally, the Government set up an Enterprise Zone covering the Docklands with certain tax breaks.
, a former Chief Executive of Hereford and Worcester County Council and Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council. It was assumed that LDDC's success would rest on trying to identify and encourage 'suitable' alternative industrial uses for the vast sites it administered. The unemployed former dock workers and their families wanted equivalent skilled trades in warehousing or manufacturing to replace their lost jobs.
Billingsgate Market had already relocated from the City to Docklands, and this was thought to be typical of the type of industry which might be accommodated. There was some success, however it became apparent that the market for large industrial sites in central London no longer existed. The LDDC was competing with similar organisations based in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Tyneside, Glasgow and other British cities affected by industrial decline. Lower labour costs and land costs coupled with cheap availability of transport made these cities - and those abroad - more viable as industrial locations.
However, Docklands was close to the City of London and this made it an attractive secondary office location as well as a possible site for riverside residential development to accommodate the phenomenon of yuppies, the young high income single person households created by new jobs in the financial services industry. In the first few years of LDDC's operation several offices and flats schemes were given the go ahead including on Heron Quays
and Surrey Quays
. Many of these buildings demonstrated unique architecture, such as the Baltic Quay
building in the Surrey Docks.
LDDC's success was due to seizing opportunity and making maximum use of its assets. When American/Swiss banker Michael von Clemm
visited West India Docks
looking for a restaurant site, he became interested in the idea of building a back office. Reg Ward
jumped on this and the resulting scheme became the successful Canary Wharf
development, with 95,000 jobs so far (see Canary Wharf
entry for full details.)
When faced with a large amount of redundant railway infrastructure, the LDDC created a cheap light rail scheme, the Docklands Light Railway
to make use of it. This in turn made the whole area more accessible to the public and helped create the conditions for further development.
The LDDC tapped into the boom in air travel by creating a small business airport making use of the vast open spaces of the Royal Docks. London City Airport
is now a fast growing and popular airport. A huge site to the north of the airport became the ExCeL Exhibition Centre
, a vast modern venue, which in turn led to the development of hotels and other services.
During the 1980s private housing was developed in Docklands which with some minor exceptions were the first to be built in the area.Soon many people from outside the area saw the opportunity of buying a house close to the city at what appeared to be cheap prices. On many of the developments local council tenants where given first opportunities to buy at discounted prices but this led to a number of abuses.Then again in the later 1990s London had a huge house price boom. By encouraging the development of attractive waterside apartments along the River Thames and the old docks, the LDDC brought new, middle class residents into the area, closely followed by shops, restaurants and bars.
It withdrew from Bermondsey
in 1994, followed by Beckton
in 1995, the Surrey Docks in 1996, from Wapping
, Limehouse
and the Isle of Dogs
in 1997, and finally from the Royal Docks
in late 1997.
Development Corporation
In England and Wales, Development Corporations are bodies set up by the UK government and charged with the urban development of an area, outside the usual system of Town and Country Planning in the United Kingdom...
(LDDC) was a quango
Quango
Quango or qango is an acronym used notably in the United Kingdom, Ireland and elsewhere to label an organisation to which government has devolved power...
agency set up by the UK Government in 1981 to regenerate the depressed Docklands area of east London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. During its eighteen-year existence it was responsible for regenerating an area of 8.5 square miles (22 km²) in the London Boroughs of Newham
London Borough of Newham
The London Borough of Newham is a London borough formed from the towns of West Ham and East Ham, within East London.It is situated east of the City of London, and is north of the River Thames. According to 2006 estimates, Newham has one of the highest ethnic minority populations of all the...
, Tower Hamlets
London Borough of Tower Hamlets
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets is a London borough to the east of the City of London and north of the River Thames. It is in the eastern part of London and covers much of the traditional East End. It also includes much of the redeveloped Docklands region of London, including West India Docks...
and Southwark
London Borough of Southwark
The London Borough of Southwark is a London borough in south east London, England. It is directly south of the River Thames and the City of London, and forms part of Inner London.-History:...
. LDDC helped to create Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
, Surrey Quays shopping centre, London City Airport
London City Airport
London City Airport is a single-runway airport. It principally serves the financial district of London and is located on a former Docklands site, east of the City of London, opposite the London Regatta Centre, in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It was developed by the engineering...
, ExCeL Exhibition Centre
ExCeL Exhibition Centre
ExCeL London is an exhibitions and conference centre in the London Borough of Newham, England. It is located on a site on the northern quay of the Royal Victoria Dock in London Docklands, between Canary Wharf and London City Airport.- History :The centre was built by Sir Robert McAlpine, opened...
and the Docklands Light Railway
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
, bringing more than 120,000 new jobs to the Docklands and making the area highly sought after for housing. Although initially fiercely resisted by local councils and residents, today it is generally regarded as having been a success and is now used as an exemplar of large-scale regeneration, although tensions between older and more recent residents remain.
Reason for creation
London's Docklands were at one time the largest and most successful in the world. Starting with West India DocksWest India Docks
The West India Docks are a series of three docks on the Isle of Dogs in London, the first of which opened in 1802. The docks closed to commercial traffic in 1980 and the Canary Wharf development was built on the site.-History:...
in 1802, East India Docks
East India Docks
The East India Docks was a group of docks in Blackwall, east London, north-east of the Isle of Dogs. Today only the entrance basin remains.-History:...
, Millwall Dock
Millwall Dock
Millwall Dock is a dock at Millwall, south of Canary Wharf on the Isle of Dogs, in London.-History:The Millwall Dock was constructed by John Aird & Co. to a design by Sir John Fowler and opened in 1868....
, Surrey Docks and then the Royal Docks
Royal Docks
The Royal Docks comprise three docks in east London - the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are more correctly called the Royal Group of Docks to distinguish them from the Royal Dockyards, Royal being due to their naming after royal personages rather than...
, thousands of people were employed in international trade, warehousing and related trades. Over time, manufacturing industry also moved into the Docklands, including large coal and gas plants and storage, the Pura Lard factory, flour mills, and many other businesses.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the docks area was heavily bombed during the Blitz
The Blitz
The Blitz was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941, during the Second World War. The city of London was bombed by the Luftwaffe for 76 consecutive nights and many towns and cities across the country followed...
, in an attempt to destroy the British economy. This crippled or damaged much of the infrastructure and many older buildings were lost.
There was a brief resurgence during the 1950s but the docks were empty by 1980. The main reason was containerisation: goods used to be brought into the UK by relatively small ships, unloaded by hand, from the 1970s onwards most trade was carried within intermodal container
Intermodal container
An intermodal container is a standardized reusable steel box used for the safe, efficient and secure storage and movement of materials and products within a global containerized intermodal freight transport system...
s (shipping containers) or by truck on roll-on/roll-off ferries. The second reason was labour costs and flexibility - the UK's dockworkers held on to outmoded pay and conditions structures which left London at a competitive disadvantage compared to overseas ports.This was also the time when air cargo was becoming the dominant mode of transport in the Uk with Heathrow being the most important port by value.
Manufacturing industry no longer had to close to be the river as raw materials were being moved by road moved to cheaper locations within the UK, leaving the docks with less trade.This was particularly evident with processed foods.
Between 1961 and 1971, almost 83,000 jobs were lost in the five boroughs in the Docklands area (Greenwich, Lewisham, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Southwark). A large percentage of these jobs were from large transnational corporations. The decline was heightened by government policies which favoured the growth of industry outside London. High unemployment was accompanied by population decline. Whilst inner London lost 10% of its population between 1961 and 1971, the figures for Tower Hamlets and Southwark were 18% and 16% respectively.
The housing in the Docklands area was nearly all council-owned terraced housing and flats. There was no commercial infrastructure such as banks or building societies or any new office accommodation. This presented a unique challenge for Government - how to completely replace an industry on a vast scale and make the contaminated, depressed docklands an attractive place to live and work.
Formation
The London Docklands Development Corporation was established by the then Secretary of State for the EnvironmentSecretary of State for the Environment
The Secretary of State for the Environment was a UK cabinet position, responsible for the Department of the Environment . This was created by Edward Heath as a combination of the Ministry of Housing and Local Government, the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Public Building and Works on 15...
, Michael Heseltine
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
, under section 136 of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980
Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980
The Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980 was responsible for the establishment of Development Corporations, including the London Docklands Development Corporation....
. It was financed by a grant from central government and from the proceeds from the disposal of land for development.
LDDC had very little money, but it did have three crucial levers to deliver regeneration. First of all it had land ownership: this enabled it to enter into commercial deals with developers. Secondly it had planning powers: this was a controversial move, which angered local boroughs, but which allowed, for example, the outline planning permission for Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
to specify only the height and footprint of buildings, enabling the development to move quickly to satisfy demand. Finally LDDC had the power to broker and enter into contracts.
Additionally, the Government set up an Enterprise Zone covering the Docklands with certain tax breaks.
Operation 1981-1994
LDDC's first Chief Executive was Reg WardReg Ward
Albert Joseph Ward, known as Reg Ward was the first Chief Executive of the London Docklands Development Corporation , serving in that capacity from 1981 to 1988.- Early life and education :...
, a former Chief Executive of Hereford and Worcester County Council and Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council. It was assumed that LDDC's success would rest on trying to identify and encourage 'suitable' alternative industrial uses for the vast sites it administered. The unemployed former dock workers and their families wanted equivalent skilled trades in warehousing or manufacturing to replace their lost jobs.
Billingsgate Market had already relocated from the City to Docklands, and this was thought to be typical of the type of industry which might be accommodated. There was some success, however it became apparent that the market for large industrial sites in central London no longer existed. The LDDC was competing with similar organisations based in Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Tyneside, Glasgow and other British cities affected by industrial decline. Lower labour costs and land costs coupled with cheap availability of transport made these cities - and those abroad - more viable as industrial locations.
However, Docklands was close to the City of London and this made it an attractive secondary office location as well as a possible site for riverside residential development to accommodate the phenomenon of yuppies, the young high income single person households created by new jobs in the financial services industry. In the first few years of LDDC's operation several offices and flats schemes were given the go ahead including on Heron Quays
Heron Quays
Heron Quays forms part of the Canary Wharf area the Docklands, east London. It has a Docklands Light Railway station, which was moved south after the development was expanded....
and Surrey Quays
Surrey Quays
Surrey Quays is a name given to a largely residential area of Rotherhithe in south-east London, occupied until 1970 by the Surrey Commercial Docks...
. Many of these buildings demonstrated unique architecture, such as the Baltic Quay
Baltic Quay
Baltic Quay is a large residential development, located in Surrey Quays in the London Borough of Southwark. Completed in 1989 during the London Docklands Development Corporation, it is largely known for its unique architecture, which won it awards from the London Docklands Development Corporation...
building in the Surrey Docks.
LDDC's success was due to seizing opportunity and making maximum use of its assets. When American/Swiss banker Michael von Clemm
Michael von Clemm
Dr Michael von Clemm was an American businessman, restaurateur, anthropologist and President of Templeton College, Oxford. Although in one interpretation of his life, he was merely a high-flying banker, he could also have been said to have helped start the restaurant revolution in the UK of the...
visited West India Docks
West India Docks
The West India Docks are a series of three docks on the Isle of Dogs in London, the first of which opened in 1802. The docks closed to commercial traffic in 1980 and the Canary Wharf development was built on the site.-History:...
looking for a restaurant site, he became interested in the idea of building a back office. Reg Ward
Reg Ward
Albert Joseph Ward, known as Reg Ward was the first Chief Executive of the London Docklands Development Corporation , serving in that capacity from 1981 to 1988.- Early life and education :...
jumped on this and the resulting scheme became the successful Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
development, with 95,000 jobs so far (see Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf
Canary Wharf is a major business district located in London, United Kingdom. It is one of London's two main financial centres, alongside the traditional City of London, and contains many of the UK's tallest buildings, including the second-tallest , One Canada Square...
entry for full details.)
When faced with a large amount of redundant railway infrastructure, the LDDC created a cheap light rail scheme, the Docklands Light Railway
Docklands Light Railway
The Docklands Light Railway is an automated light metro or light rail system opened on 31 August 1987 to serve the redeveloped Docklands area of London...
to make use of it. This in turn made the whole area more accessible to the public and helped create the conditions for further development.
The LDDC tapped into the boom in air travel by creating a small business airport making use of the vast open spaces of the Royal Docks. London City Airport
London City Airport
London City Airport is a single-runway airport. It principally serves the financial district of London and is located on a former Docklands site, east of the City of London, opposite the London Regatta Centre, in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It was developed by the engineering...
is now a fast growing and popular airport. A huge site to the north of the airport became the ExCeL Exhibition Centre
ExCeL Exhibition Centre
ExCeL London is an exhibitions and conference centre in the London Borough of Newham, England. It is located on a site on the northern quay of the Royal Victoria Dock in London Docklands, between Canary Wharf and London City Airport.- History :The centre was built by Sir Robert McAlpine, opened...
, a vast modern venue, which in turn led to the development of hotels and other services.
During the 1980s private housing was developed in Docklands which with some minor exceptions were the first to be built in the area.Soon many people from outside the area saw the opportunity of buying a house close to the city at what appeared to be cheap prices. On many of the developments local council tenants where given first opportunities to buy at discounted prices but this led to a number of abuses.Then again in the later 1990s London had a huge house price boom. By encouraging the development of attractive waterside apartments along the River Thames and the old docks, the LDDC brought new, middle class residents into the area, closely followed by shops, restaurants and bars.
Withdrawal 1994-1997
It began a staged withdrawal in 1994 and was formally wound up in 1997. Under a process called "dedesignation" the powers it held reverted to the London Boroughs.It withdrew from Bermondsey
Bermondsey
Bermondsey is an area in London on the south bank of the river Thames, and is part of the London Borough of Southwark. To the west lies Southwark, to the east Rotherhithe, and to the south, Walworth and Peckham.-Toponomy:...
in 1994, followed by Beckton
Beckton
Beckton is part of the London Borough of Newham, England, located east of Charing Cross.Its boundaries are the A13 trunk road to the north, Barking Creek to the east, the Royal Docks to the south, and Prince Regent Lane to the west. The area around Prince Regent Lane is also known as Custom House...
in 1995, the Surrey Docks in 1996, from Wapping
Wapping
Wapping is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets which forms part of the Docklands to the east of the City of London. It is situated between the north bank of the River Thames and the ancient thoroughfare simply called The Highway...
, Limehouse
Limehouse
Limehouse is a place in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is on the northern bank of the River Thames opposite Rotherhithe and between Ratcliff to the west and Millwall to the east....
and the Isle of Dogs
Isle of Dogs
The Isle of Dogs is a former island in the East End of London that is bounded on three sides by one of the largest meanders in the River Thames.-Etymology:...
in 1997, and finally from the Royal Docks
Royal Docks
The Royal Docks comprise three docks in east London - the Royal Albert Dock, the Royal Victoria Dock and the King George V Dock. They are more correctly called the Royal Group of Docks to distinguish them from the Royal Dockyards, Royal being due to their naming after royal personages rather than...
in late 1997.