A ‘forgotten’ east London river is being revived in a £3 million project

Members of the public in Ilford will soon be given access to east London’s ‘almost forgotten’ River Roding, developers have said. 

A £3 million regeneration scheme will see the river turned into a new public paradise, with bridges, green spaces and riverside walks. In the project which the Mayor of London hopes will see neglected public places given a new lease of life, developers will rewild a local golf course, alongside building a new bridge, pocket park and boardwalk. 

The scheme, officially called the Ilford Arrival, is being designed by spatial design agency Periscope. 

It’s being funded by an investment scheme from the Mayor’s office, called the Greater London Authority's Civic Partnership Programme (CPP). CPP aims to target suffering and disregarded areas that are poorly affected by ‘long-standing inequalities that have been exacerbated by Covid-19, the cost-of-living crisis and the climate emergency’.

Daniel Rea, founding director of Periscope, said: ‘Redbridge is one of London's greenest boroughs and Ilford is blessed with the River Roding and the Roding Valley.

‘But, as it stands, what should be a public amenity is almost forgotten.’

The green regeneration is still in its development stage. Most recently the developers met with a group of girls and young women between the ages of 16 and 25 as part of a consultancy to make sure the project will make life better for all the different demographics in the area. 

Rea added: ‘At a time of housing need and with enormous pressure to build, it's crucial that local people are empowered to shape their own neighbourhoods. Too often regeneration is something that is done to communities, rather than with them. This approach gives them real agency.’

The timeline for building the Ilford Arrival hasn’t been revealed yet. 

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