Announcing a Transformative Vision for Royal Victoria Dock West – Introducing London’s largest floating destination

Royal Docks Waterways (the new trading name for Royal Docks Management Authority, RoDMA) today announces a new Vision for the future of the western part of Royal Victoria Dock, a 12-hectare stretch of water within London’s Royal Docks set to become one of the city’s most significant new public spaces and the capital’s first large-scale floating park.

The Vision outlines how the historic Royal Docks can be transformed into a valuable new asset for London and the local area, boosting Newham’s total publicly accessible open space by 5% and supporting the area’s ongoing regeneration into a new waterside destination for residents, workers, and visitors alike – with early phases of delivery expected before 2030.

The Vision supports the Mayor of London’s wider regeneration of the Royal Docks, delivered in partnership with the Mayor of Newham, to create a thriving, diverse waterfront backed by £5 billion of investment over the next 20 years. It will open up Royal Victoria Dock West for everyone – making the water more accessible, supporting a coordinated multi-partner approach to new proposals, and bringing the area to life through a vibrant mix of uses that attract more visitors.

While East London has undergone significant regeneration over the past twenty years, much of this transformation has been land-led. This Vision marks a new chapter, focusing new attention on the water itself. Royal Victoria Dock West is reimagined as a distinctive new water-based destination, at the heart of the Royal Docks, where people can relax, enjoy water-based leisure and wellness activities, and connect with nature throughout the year.

Three core principles shape the Vision:

• An enhanced destination offer, growing a range of uses that draw people in and encourage longer visits
• A neighbourhood asset that creates new local amenities and is inclusive, welcoming and comfortable for local communities
• A place defined by its relationship with water and nature, with success measured by “more people getting wet every day”

Following an assessment of potential uses across economic, social, environmental and policy criteria, Royal Docks Waterways has identified three Priority Projects that will guide the first stages of delivery, subject to more detailed feasibility studies and agreements:

1. Floating Wellness

A year-round wellbeing destination in East London, combining floating lido, sauna and spa experiences, along with expanded support for open-water swimming and an aspiration for increased seasonal free access to the water. This reflects growing public interest in health, outdoor activity, and cold-water wellness.

2. A Floating Park

A new floating park for Newham, comprising landscaped floating green space, art installations and cultural programming, with capacity for future expansion. The park will help address the borough’s shortage of accessible public green space, creating a distinctive waterside place for people to meet, relax and engage with culture, while also contributing to wider climate-resilience objectives.

3. Floating Residential

Creating a new waterside community through residential moorings and floating homes. This will bring additional communal infrastructure for both the existing land-based and new water-based residents to ensure Royal Docks West remains a prosperous place to live as well as visit. This will help bring year-round life and activity to the area, while responding to the growing interest in blue-space urbanism, and recognising the role that water plays in health, identity, ecology, and overall quality of life.

Scott Derben, Managing Director of Royal Docks Waterways, says, “This Vision represents the biggest step change in the management and development of the Royal Docks since they were closed to commercial shipping at the end of 1981. Now, 45 years later, our goal is that the Docks that used to feed London will be used to nurture its inhabitants.”

[INSERT quotes from GLA and Newham)

The Vision forms part of a coordinated approach to regeneration across the Royal Docks, aligning with the work of the Royal Docks Team and multiple long-term policy frameworks, including the London Plan, the Newham Local Plan, the Royal Docks Delivery Plan and Water Strategy and the Royal Docks & Beckton Riverside OAPF.

It also aligns with emerging regional policy, including the Mayor of London’s forthcoming Clean & Healthy Waterways strategy, a 10-year plan to improve water quality, expand public access and restore London’s waterways as essential environmental assets. With the Mayor having recently signed the Swimmable Cities Charter, Royal Victoria Dock West is well-placed to become one of the first waterscapes in London where these ambitions begin to take shape. Biodiversity improvements, climate resilience and enhanced water quality form a central part of the Vision.

The focus on open-water swimming, wellness and enhancing biodiversity will establish the Royal Docks as one of the first areas of London ready to support this next phase of water-led urban renewal.

Royal Docks Waterways will now begin a period of public engagement on the overall Vision at the same time as it begins procurement processes to bring in third parties to progress the Floating Wellness and Floating Residential projects. During February and March, they will be looking to work with local stakeholders and residents to develop the briefs for the Wellness and Residential projects so that they can build in local needs from an early stage.

Confirmed public engagement includes:

• The team will have a table in the foyer of Britannia Village Hall on 25 and 26 Feb, 2 and 4 March 3-6pm, where people can talk about the project too.
• Online “town hall style” meetings 3 March at 12 noon and 6pm; and 12 March at 12 noon and 6pm.
• A weekend of exhibition space and drop-in conversations on the historic Thames Sailing Barge Will, a 100-year-old Thames sailing barge – the largest ever built. The boat will be moored in Royal Victoria Dock West from the 7-8 March (open 10am-3pm).

Thames Barge Will is a 100ft 1925 Thames sailing barge and one of the most significant surviving vessels of its kind, offering a rare, working insight into the river’s commercial and maritime heritage. Built in Great Yarmouth in 1925 by Fellows & Co and marking her centenary in 2025, Thames Barge Will, now part of the National Historic Ships fleet, continues to sail as the largest Thames sailing barge ever built and a living record of the river’s commercial and wartime history.

Following the public engagement events, there will be further workshops and engagement opportunities. These will be announced shortly. Royal Docks Waterways is also looking to have private meetings with local stakeholders and businesses. Interested organisations should email rvdw@royaldockswaterways.com to set up meetings.

For more information on the Vision (which is available for download), the public engagement events and next steps, please go to rvdwactivated.com