Infrastructure delivery

Tower Hamlets is experiencing significant levels of growth in terms of homes, jobs and population.

With this growth comes the pressure on existing infrastructure and the need for additional infrastructure to be delivered in the right place and at the right time.

Infrastructure delivery is required to meet the needs of residents, workers and visitors of the borough as well as addressing the impacts of future growth and development.

It requires a planned and coordinated view of priorities across the borough and requires allocating and utilising existing and new sources of funding that can deliver infrastructure projects.

Infrastructure Delivery Plan

The Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) identifies infrastructure requirements like schools, health centres, parks and open spaces to meet current and future need across the borough.

The Infrastructure Planning team works with internal and external partners like the NHS and TfL to build a picture of what is needed to support growth. This will ensure current and future demands for infrastructure are understood and met.

The IDP is reviewed and updated often. It includes projects that have been identified to meet current/future infrastructure demands. For each project, details are provided on its location, funding requirements and timescales for delivery.

View the latest version of the Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) (under evidence base documents - site allocations). An updated document has been produced to support the preparation of the latest Local Plan.

The Regulation 18 version of the IDP is available online and will be reviewed and updated (where applicable) for Regulation 19. The final version of the document will be available when the latest Local Plan has been adopted.

Capital Programme

The Capital Programme is a list of capital schemes the council is investing in. It shows where they are located, the approved budget allocation and when they are expected to be delivered.

The decision on what to spend developer contributions like the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) and Section 106 (S106) on and when, is approved by the Mayor in Cabinet through the Capital Programme.

The Capital Programme is also supported by other funding sources apart from CIL and S106 such as external grants, payments, capital receipts (including Right-to-Buy (RTB) receipts) and borrowing. 

The current Capital Programme was approved in Cabinet in September 2020. It includes a range of projects that the council will deliver across the borough using CIL/S106 contributions and other funding sources.

Utilities planning

To tackle some of the challenges facing utilities infrastructure, our Infrastructure Planning Team, coordinate/lead the council’s relationship with the GLA’s Infrastructure Coordination Service.

This is in the form of the Infrastructure Delivery Coordination Pilot Programme, which covers the Isle of Dogs, South Poplar and the Leaside parts of the borough.

The pilot projects included within the programme are:

• Streetworks Construction and Coordination
• Infrastructure Coordination Service
• Energy
• Digital
• Waste
• Water
• London Underground Assets Register
• Integrated Mapping Application

Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP)

Our Draft Local Area Energy Plan (LAEP) sets out a vision for what a zero-carbon energy system could look like for the Isle of Dogs, South Poplar and Leaside areas and describes key recommendations. The LAEP focuses on fair, strong energy systems. They drive sustainable growth and cover all energy uses: heat, transport, and electricity. The goal is to create a net zero local energy system by 2045. We modelled future energy systems to see possible pathways and the radical change needed to meet this target.

The LAEP provides a technical evidence base to support our Local Plan and contains recommendations for a possible way forward. The council is now investigating feasibility. It will also engage the public and stakeholders to develop the LAEP.

We are also participating in the GLA’s Central, Inner East and North London Subregional Local Area Energy Plan (CIEN LAEP), which covers all of Tower Hamlets and ten other boroughs north of the Thames. The study's findings will let us work on an action plan for Tower Hamlets. Consulting stakeholders is vital for local energy planning. We plan to do this later in the year. 

Integrated Water Management Plan (IWMP)

We have been working in partnership with a number of stakeholders to develop our understanding of this type of utilities water infrastructure.

An output of this partnership work is the publication of an Integrated Water Management Plan (IWMP). The purpose of which is to assess the water demand and existing infrastructure provision/capacity. It's also to recommend measures to mitigate these impacts – it is an options document to look at potential solutions.

We are working with a number of stakeholders to find out how and which of the measures are preferred, effective and deliverable. We'll then use this to decide what we take forward from the IWMP.

• IWMP Main Report
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 1 IOD and South Poplar opportunity area
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 2 Integrated Water Management plan study zones
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 3 Topography
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 4 Green and Blue grid
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 5 Flood Risk Tidal and River Flooding
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 6 Flood Risk Surface Water Flooding
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 7 Third Party Assets
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 8 Thames Water Waste Water and Clean Sewer Network
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 9 Thames Water Sewer Network Capacity
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 10 Planned Housing and Commerical Development Location
• IWMP Technical Appendix A Fig 11 Spatial Options Identification
• Technical Appendix B Policy Review
• Technical Appendix C Water Balance
• Technical Appendix D Option Details and Case Studies
• Technical Appendix E Developer Checklist

Our water networks for both supplies and drainage cover large areas outside the boundaries of Tower Hamlets.

The GLA conducted a follow-up study for the Lower Lea, the Subregional Integrated Water management Strategy (SIWMS), East London. It involved several stakeholders and all London Boroughs to the River Lea.

Find out what the SIWMS concludes and recommends.

Waste infrastructure study

A Waste Infrastructure Study for the Isle of Dogs and South Poplar Opportunity Area. This work focuses on recycling in existing flats to guide the roll out of the Flats Recycling Package.

The study is in two stages. The first stage report includes results from a survey led on bin stores in existing estates.

The second stage compares survey results with standards for recycling in new buildings. It also provides a cost estimation for matching comparable standards in existing estates.

Recommendations for the borough on how to roll out these measures is also provided.

Note: some appendices are mostly for internal use and are not available online but can be requested by email at infrastructure.planning@towerhamlets.gov.uk

• Stage 1 Report – Waste Infrastructure Survey  
• Stage 2 Report – Waste Infrastructure Strategy 
• 6.3 Survey script
• 6.5 Landlord data
• 6.6 Bin store scores
• 9.2 FRP tool cost assumptions
• 9.2 FRP Tool general assumptions
• 9.3 Setup and ongoing cost breakdown
• 9.4 Evaluation matrix and scoring
• 9.7 Stakeholder map
• 9.9 Landlord monitoring
• 9.10 Lambeth Council case study
• Appendix 9.11 Communication plan timeline

Appendices 6.1 and 9.1 is available on the ReLondon website.