City of London Corporation has submitted an outline planning application to the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham (LBBD), which will create a new home for Billingsgate, New Spitalfields and Smithfield markets at Dagenham Dock (the former Barking Reach Power Station).
If approved, the plans will create the country’s largest wholesale food destination across 42 acres of industrial land – forming a 21st Century food centre for the UK, London and the South East. These proposals will help us to secure the future of these three historic markets as well as continuing to support London’s food economy for the next generation.
The markets will also provide an economic boost to Barking and Dagenham through food, by:
- Reviving an abandoned industrial site;
- Providing opportunities to train tomorrow’s fishmongers, butchers and fruiterers; and
- Promoting a number of environmental benefits, including the potential to transfer produce using the rail network and river.
You can find a vision document on their website here, which sets out further the context and detail of the plans.