Meridian Water

Meridian Water is a planned 82-hectare (200-acre) new neighbourhood in Edmonton, in the south-east of the London Borough of Enfield, North London. The council and councillor-agreed supplemental Local Plan for Meridian Water entails the demolition of warehouses and proposes to contain 10,000 new homes and 6,700 new jobs served by direct trains to the Liverpool Street Station. The development “represents one of the capital’s largest regeneration opportunities”.^[1]

LDA Design, Beyond Green, Atkins Group and BNP Paribas Real Estate were chosen to deliver the proposals for the site.^[2]^[3]

Current site

The Meridian Water development site is centred 1.2 km south-east of the town centre of Edmonton Green. It comprises an area of approximately 0.82 km², 0.72 km² of which is land capable of development.

In economic geography the site consists largely of vacant or ailing facilities for transport or industrial use, and in natural geography is characterised by the waterways of the mid-Lea which pass through or beside it to the east: the River Lee Navigation, the Lee Diversion, the River Lee Flood Relief Channel, and Pymmes and Salmons Brook.

The site is home to large Tesco and IKEA superstores, the Ravenside Retail park in the north of the site and a number of large blue warehouse structures formally owned by British Oxygenated Company, or BOC Group, for packaged gas, chemicals and related products, that are now used for storage, industrial and distribution uses.

Current development

The Hanlon Community Centre on the edge of Meridian Water was opened by Prince Andrew on 16 July 2012. Its construction is the first part of £1.3 billion of ecologically sustainable building, commissioned by Enfield Council. Father Asbridge, the Priest Missioner at St. Mary with St. John's church where the Community Centre is housed, said “Meridian Water offers this downtrodden community a chance of the jobs, new homes, schools, bus and train routes, and the access to shops and services that we so badly need.”^[4]

Future development

A masterplan is being produced for Meridian Water by the London Borough of Enfield. The document is a Supplementary planning document. The masterplan proposes infrastructure improvements for the site which has two flyovers, industry-designed service roads and access to the railway station on a main line from only one quadrant, this being by a long, sloped roadside footpath.

Transport improvements

Angel Road Station will be at the centre of Meridian Water. A consortium of 36 MPs, 28 local authorities, 21 rail user groups and nine business organisations produced the Eastern England rail manifesto in 2012, proposing a fifteen minutes frequency at Angel Road Station.^[5] The London Borough of Enfield is proposing the station be upgraded, and a transport hub with new and upgraded bus stops be created.

The Causeway

The centrepiece of Meridian Water will be The Causeway, a pedestrian and cycle friendly route running through the heart of the site, linking from Edmonton Green in the west, taking in the upgraded station at Angel Road as well as the transport interchange, passing along the high street, then across the waterways to the employment land in the east of the site.^[6]

Schools

Two new schools are proposed as part of the Meridian Water development;^[7] one primary and an all-through school.

Decentralised Energy Network

Meridian Water is proposed as one of the main hubs within the North London Decentralised Energy Network.^[8] Decentralised energy is a clean, efficient and reliable way to generate electricity and heat ^[9]

References

Coordinates: 51°36′37″N 0°03′05″W / 51.6104°N 0.0514°W / 51.6104; -0.0514

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