Plans have been unveiled to open up the riverside at Chambers Wharf at Bermondsey in central London.
At present there is no river view and walkers are forced to turn inland and follow Loftie Street and the long Chambers Street (page 26) round the back of a cold store.
Initial proposals by the St Martin’s Property Group include a wide riverside path alongside a new public garden. This would allow the Thames Path to continue with the river from Fountain Green Square on the east side to within a few yards of East Lane Stairs on the west side.
The new development plan comprises of eight buildings with a total of 750 residential apartments including studios and three bedroom flats.
The cold store was built in the 1930s and has recently been used for document storage. It was the erection of this huge warehouse which split the continuous Bermondsey Wall lane into Bermondsey Wall East and Bermondsey Wall West.
The new Chambers Wharf riverside garden would be flanked on the north side by the Thames Path and on the south by an extended Bermondsey Wall lane on its original line.
If Southwark Council grants planning permission next year, building work will begin in 2008. The new path could be opened in 2013.