Barking Station Masterplan Document PDF 12 MB - Meetings ...

1.1: Introduction
A Vision for Barking Station Interchange
1.1.1 Barking Town Centre is one of the most strategically important regional centres in
east London, home to a diverse community, a bustling street market, and the
historic Abbey ruins. Barking lies in the heart of the London Thames Gateway
area, part of the largest regeneration project in Europe.
1.1.2 The station is an arrival point and for many, the first impression they have of the
Borough. Barking Town Centre has not lost its individuality and spirit of place.
Barking Station itself epitomises this spirit. A grade II listed building, it is an
example of a station rebuilt during the British Railways ‘Modernisation Period’.
The station benefits from a wide range of transport connections, but it and the
immediate area suffer from poor quality public realm, capacity problems and a
general lack of investment 1 .
1.1.3 In recent years there has been a surge of positive development in the town
centre. Much of this has focused around the civic heart with the completion of
Barking Central in 2010. This award-winning scheme has created a new public
space and vista of the Town Hall. The juxtaposition of the new community and
residential buildings against the existing urban fabric testifies how the character
of an area should not be eroded but highlighted by new interventions.
1.1.4 The civic centre of Barking has set a benchmark for the wider regeneration of the
town centre in terms of sensitivity of design and provision of quality public realm.
Barking Station Interchange area needs to better integrate with the regeneration
which has already taken place in the town centre and to respond to the scale and
quality of this new development.
1.1.5 Within this context, this Masterplan seeks to draw on the existing elements in the
town centre and to build on this success for Barking’s gateway. The purpose of
the Masterplan is to convey a shared vision for the Barking Station area and to
provide a catalyst for the regeneration of this key point in the town centre and
Borough. Creating a positive sense of arrival at Barking Station will help
strengthen the identity of the town centre, attracting residents and investors to the
Borough. The Council and its partners are committed to transforming the station
so that it can operate as a best practice transport interchange, radically changing
the perception of Barking Town Centre on arrival.
1.1.6 The Barking Station Masterplan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD)
specifically sets out the need to improve the grade II listed station, the
surrounding public realm and presents a number of development opportunities,
which build on the areas existing historic assets. It indicates how these proposed
development sites connect to their surroundings by all modes of transport
including walking, cycling and public transport. It also provides clarity as to
appropriate uses in terms of the quantity and location of residential, retail, office
and leisure development.
1 DfT, Better Stations Report, 2010
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