Ballymore's 2,000 home Embassy Gardens plans given approval

The proposed plans for Ballymore's 'Embassy Gardens' scheme would provide up to 1,982 new homes and would include new shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, business space, a 100 bed hotel, a health centre, children's playgrounds and sports pitches. The development could contribute around £50 million to the new Northern Line Extension.

The development site is located to the south of Nine Elms lane and wraps around the site of the new US Embassy. Plans for the development include new outdoor public space covering more than six acres, which would include a section of the Nine Elms linear park which will run the full length of the district.

As part of the scheme's section 106 package Ballymore has agreed to pay between £52.5 million  and £55.7m towards improving local transport and social infrastructure. The exact figure will depend on the timing of the payments and final form of the development.

The majority of the sum will go towards the Northern Line Extension which will connect Nine Elms to the tube network, the Council said.

A section 106 agreement is a legally binding agreement under the Town and Country Planning Act which allows a local planning authority to agree planning obligations with a developer in association with the granting of planning permission.

Under the agreement Ballymore will provide £200,000 towards an extension of the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme, £300,000 towards a local employment initiative and six car club parking spaces.

The developer has agreed that around 15% of the homes would be made available for intermediate and affordable rent homes, which means 298 of the 1,982 homes would be affordable, under the agreement.

The Council could secure more affordable homes if the value of the development improves during the build period. Ballymore has agreed to share up to £40m of the extra profits with the council, which would be used to provide more affordable homes across the regeneration zone.

Property agency Knight Frank has predicted that values in Nine Elms will rise 140% by 2016.

"Another fifteen acres of industrial land will now be transformed into new homes, offices, shops and green open space. The completed scheme will support thousands of new jobs and is an important piece of the Nine Elms jigsaw," said Nick Cuff, Wandsworth Council's planning chairman. "The development comes with another major contribution to the Northern Line Extension which will cut journey times to the financial district to below 15 minutes."

The Embassy Gardens masterplan was designed by Sir Terry Farrell and consists of nine building plots, with individual buildings rising up to 23 storeys in height.

The Nine Elms Opportunity Area includes 450 acres of land between Battersea Park and Lambeth Bridge on the South Bank of the Thames. The London plan anticipates up to 16,000 new homes and 25,000 new jobs will be created as Nine Elms changes from a light industrial zone to a mixed residential and business district. 12,000 of these new homes are already in the planning pipeline.

A new pedestrian and cycle bridge across the Thames will create another link to neighbouring Westminster.