Block rises near cable car and DLR on former car park
Further homes are now well under construction in an area of east London near Royal Victoria DLR station and the Cable Car.
The area around Royal Victoria dock has seen a number of blocks rise over the past decade with this latest site being on a former Excel Centre car park.
New developments
The cable car does a good job of highlighting just how dense parts of the area now is – with much more to come across the wider area. In the shot above there’s a fair old number of blocks visible with the Excel just out of shot.
A total of 854 homes have been approved across the area in a venture between developer Mount Anvil and Excel.
It’d be nice to bury those pylons though which aren’t doing the area any favours.
It’s also noticeable just much busier streets now are in this area and the cable car was again heaving.
Yep, the thing no one apparently uses was packed either side of the river again. It may have no commuters at 8am. Come back mid-morning or later and it’s another story.
Changing places
You never know it may even get more than a trickle of commuters in years to come with both thousands of homes and jobs planned within walking distance of both terminals.
It’s hardly going to rival the Jubilee line but not inconceivable that some of the many thousands of future residents north and south will use it to reach work or leisure opportunities across the river.
The Excel centre is a good case in point. It’s former car park to the west is now changing into high density housing while to the east the exhibition hall is seeing expansion and putting on popular long-running exhibitions alongside one-off trade shows and conventions.
Food stalls beside the dock are also planned in an attempt to bring life to the area both day and night throughout the year.
Outdated criticism
All this change gets me onto another criticism of the cable car in addition to the falsehood that it goes from nowhere to nowhere (true 20 years ago – ever less so) and that being there’s nothing to see while on it.
I suppose if you hate cities and any type of urbanism that’s true but for anyone who has even the slightest interest in an evolving London it offers new sites every month. And on a basic tourist level many seem happy enough with views of Canary Wharf and the o2.
And that isn’t changing. Work now appears underway on a vast data centre, the Silvertown tunnel is all but complete and to the south 5,000 homes have been approved.
To the east 6,500 are approved at Silvertown Quays and the first block that incorporates part of a new “High Street” is underway. A lot is happening and the maligned old cable car is right there serving each side.
And for those in the know – you can get a 10-trip ticket at the booking office for £17.
