Two people talking about the Vision on SB Will 7 March
Since publishing the new Vision for the future of Royal Victoria Dock West, we have undertaken a period of public engagement – and today we are publishing an Early Stage Engagement Report which sets out what we learned and what we are going to do with the information we gathered.
The full report is available for download – and this post gives you the headlines.
Summary of the early stage engagement
In February and March we hosted six drop-in sessions and four online sessions as well as meetings with local organisations. The aim of these was to inform, speak to and get feedback from local residents, organisations and businesses about the future vision for new floating residential, wellness and greening in Royal Victoria Dock West. This feedback will then be used to help shape the brief for design teams and developers who will take the project forward into feasibility studies and beyond.
Throughout the sessions representatives from Royal Docks Waterways and the Royal Docks Team were on hand to have conversations with residents about their hopes and fears for the vision. 757 post it note comments were made by nearly 400 people and 39 online surveys were filled in over the initial engagement period. 80 people have signed up for newsletter updates ongoing. Thank you to everyone who gave us their time and attention – your input will help us to get things right as we progress the Vision and the individual projects.
At Royal Docks Waterways, we are committed to providing oversight and continuity for public engagement activities relating to all projects on the water going forward. Responsibility for engagement strategies, activities and insights will sit with Royal Docks Waterways and its consultants regarding Residential; and with the developer for Wellness – both the consultants and
developers remain to be appointed.
Two people at public engagement event on SB Will 7 March
Floating Wellness was the most commented upon category. The key focus was in water sports, leisure & activation. Participants showed a desire for new high-quality facilities and the preservation of well-loved existing facilities (Wakeboarding, Sauna, open water swimming and The Oiler Bar).
“I’d love to see open water swimming and wakeboarding to be continued as both have built large communities right now that should be further nourished.”
“Wellness centre will benefit residents – special discounts for residents!”
“Year-round swimming would be fantastic.”
Floating Residential was the most contentious element of the proposal, with concerns about water management, quality of housing, impact on existing residents in terms of views, pressure on local services and crime. There was some acceptance that well-implemented change would be beneficial.
“Breaking up the open water is good, the right sort of boats will lift the view.”
“The dock should be kept for everyone, and not cluttering it up with floating houses. It would be an eyesore and impact the view for thousands of current residents.”
Other key comments were voiced with regards to the broken bridge lift, enthusiasm for increased biodiversity in the docks as well as questions of how the project could reduce existing antisocial
behaviour.
“We need a place that serves as a town square … with play areas for younger kids which are currently lacking at the docks.”
“A fun, happy place that is eco-friendly and brings new wildlife to the area!”
“It’s great to see investment in the local area and more services for local people.”
“These plans will make our area even better.”
Royal Docks Waterways responsibilities ongoing
The initial engagement work is the start of a cycle of listening, analysing, working, feeding back and listening again, and we want to ensure that this continues throughout the design and feasibility processes. Part of this commitment is to make clear to residents and organisations what is in their scope of influence and at what stages in the process decisions become fixed. Royal Docks Waterways is part of the Silvertown Social Infrastructure Forum and is working with others to finalise and commit to a Charter which will help to hold Royal Victoria Dock West and other developments to high standards of delivering social infrastructure locally.
The feedback that was received during the visioning stage has provided clear parameters (detailed in the downloadable report) for the project to respond to going forward. This has been used to
create a series of requirements, which – as part of ongoing tender processes – organisations bidding to be involved in any of the projects will be judged against on their proposed local offer. In both the Floating Wellness and Floating Residential sections of the report specific requirements for each project are outlined. Below are some general ambitions for the overall Royal Victoria Dock West project:
- Local Steering Group made up of a selection of representative bodies to be involved in design reviews. This group is anticipated to meet approximately every other month during the feasibility and design phases for the projects.
- A commitment to explore with other Royal Victoria developers the creation of a Community Review Panel. This would be a chance for residents, with appropriate support, to be paid to review proposals coming forward across the Royal Victoria area over the coming months and years.
- Commit to a Community Chest for ongoing local investment as part of the overall business model: A proportion of the ongoing revenue to contribute to a Community Chest which can pay for ongoing services. Suggestions for how this could be spent have included additional youth services to create opportunities and reduce anti-social behaviour (ASB), additional security, a sinking fund for new capital projects to support residents as they emerge.
Next Steps
The different components of the vision (Floating Residential, Floating Wellness and Floating Park) will progress on different timelines. This is due to differences in how each of them will be financed and delivered. All will undergo more public engagement and consultation prior to decisions being made.
The Early Engagement Report is being shared with shortlisted bidders for the Residential feasibility study and the Wellness development opportunity. The report will form part of the assessment of bids and will be used to hold appointed bidders to account ongoing.
- We are about to start the shortlist phase to decide which team of consultants we are working with on the Floating Residential feasibility study. We aim to be in contract with the consultants in July 2026 who will test the concept’s viability. We expect that commission to last nine months, before any further decisions are made about next steps.
- The goal is to be in contract with a developer for Floating Wellness in December 2026. The developer will then be responsible for design development, engagement, planning and delivery of the scheme over the following year or two.
- We will publish our Environmental Strategy for Royal Victoria Dock West soon. The Floating Park proposal will be developed once both the Residential and Wellness proposals have more clarity.
Thank you again to everyone who has contributed so far. We look forward to more conversations over the coming months and years. If you have any questions arising from this, please get in touch with us on rvdw@royaldockswaterways.com.
