Dome development given green light

Planning permission to develop the troubled Millennium Dome in Greenwich, south London, has finally been given.

A planning agreement was signed on 23 February and will see property development consortium, Meridian Delta, turn the Dome into a 26,000-capacity music and sports hall with an adjacent waterfront sports, leisure, entertainment and retail complex.

The deal, between Greenwich Council and Meridian Delta, will also see 10,000 new homes, a hotel, new primary and secondary schools, nursery and health provisions and transport improvements.

It is estimated that, as a result of the development, around 24,000 jobs will be created on the Greenwich Peninsula.

Around 340,000sq m will be assigned to commercial space, while 10,950sq m will be taken up by food and drink use.

Opened to the public in 2000, the Dome became a political headache for the government. Organisers had budgeted for about 12.5 million visitors, but only around 6.5 million actually came through the turnstiles.

As a result, the government was forced to constantly provide additional funding through the Millennium Commission.

However, it now hopes to make around £550m from the sale of the land and a number of profit-share deals with developers. Details: www.greenwich.gov.uk/Greenwich/