Thousands of new homes planned as part of the redevelopment of King鈥檚 Cross station and London鈥檚 Olympic bid have been saved after a last-minute intervention by transport minister Tony McNulty

Camden council planning officers warned a meeting of the King鈥檚 Cross Development Forum last week that they feared developer Argent Group could walk away from the project unless a new ticket hall got the go-ahead from the Department of Transport.

Argent was worried the redevelopment would not be viable without the 拢250m northern ticket hall, which would link Channel Tunnel services at St Pancras with domestic services from King鈥檚 Cross and the London Underground.

The hall had been delayed since last year when spiralling costs prompted the Department for Transport to review the project.

But the ticket hall was given the go-ahead by McNulty, formerly a junior housing minister, on Tuesday.

Camden planning officer Bob West had said the delays could endanger the King鈥檚 Cross redevelopment 鈥� including 2500 planned homes.

Because the northern ticket hall is designed to speed access to the proposed Olympic village in Stratford, West had also said he feared the London bid could be hit.

A further 9000 homes in the village, which will be built sooner if the city wins the games, would then also have to be put back.

Argent chief executive Roger Madelin said: 鈥淚t is great news the government has given the full go-ahead for the ticket hall. Argent is fully committed to the project.鈥�

Source

Housing Today