Southwark: stunning new look for Rotherhithe’s former gasworks as it's turned into new housing estate

The last remaining gasholder will be dismantled to make way for the development, which will be made up of three six-storey blocks surrounded by three-storey homes. A planning committee on Tuesday (November 12) was told that retaining the gasholder would have resulted in 34 fewer homes on the site on Salter Road.

Steve Miller, who lives close to the former gasworks, said he and over 50 other residents were concerned about toxic contamination on the site. He told the meeting: “Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons have been found in high volume and there is presence of heavy metals, asbestos, nitrogen and cyanide. 

“These are all highly toxic and have serious long-term health impacts such as liver and kidney damage, central nervous system effects and cancer. Very little contamination exploratory work has been done on this site to date. We have families with small children living up to three metres away from this site. This is terrifying.”

A contamination consultant from CampbellReith Consulting said he understood residents’ concerns, but emphasised that as part of the planning application the site would have to be investigated for contaminants and cleaned up before any construction work took place.

He added that the gasworks had mainly been used for gas storage, with only the North West of the site used for gas purification, which is considered the more polluting activity. 

Of the 151 new homes planned, 63 will be affordable—comprising 43 of the cheapest social rent homes and 20 shared ownership homes, where a person buys a share of a property and pays rent on the remaining share owned by a landlord.

A planning committee made up of councillors Richard Livingstone, Emily Tester, Cleo Soanes, Richard Leeming and Martin Seaton approved the scheme unanimously. 

Conditions imposed on the development mean the site must be investigated and cleaned up prior to construction of the new homes. Residents will be provided with their own independent contamination expert by the council, in addition to the contamination consultant provided by the applicant, Notting Hill Genesis. 

Julian Wain, assistant planning director at Notting Hill Genesis, said: “Our aim is to make best use of the former gasometer site. Development of the site provides a fantastic opportunity to deliver much needed new affordable homes for Southwark.” 

The Rotherhithe gasholder was built in 1935 for the South Metropolitan Gasworks, which made use of the site from the 1850s until the gasworks closure in 1959.