It's now quicker to walk from Canada Water station to the big Tesco. This is because British Land are trying to sell flats.
A swooshy timber boardwalk has just opened and it's red. Very red.
It starts from the dock edge by the library and ends at the far end of what used to be the car park beside the empty end of Surrey Quays shopping centre. You can walk it in about two minutes.
The water being crossed is the northern end of what used to be Canada Dock, about a third of it, long reduced to a mere water feature. One edge of the dock has just been "revitalised as a haven for invertebrates, birds and other wildlife", for which read now has multiple green islands planted with trees and grasses, and the boardwalk wiggles across this to provide a better view. It's all been done in conjunction with the London Wildlife Trust so that's good, but ultimately it's all to sell some flats.
It opened on Saturday with a carnival procession, giant puppets, candyfloss tricycles, mixologists and LED drummers. This is the kind of marketing splash you can create if you're a developer trying to make an impression, because the investment is basically peanuts if you intend to sell a lot of flats. Southwark council were more than happy to piggyback and grab some free publicity too, saying "The renewal of Canada Dock is a key part of our plans to transform a historic London docklands location into a distinctive, new waterside town centre in partnership with British Land."
The boardwalk was rather quieter yesterday but not quiet, the red timbers plainly providing a useful shortcut, almost as if they'd always been there. Shoppers were striding across, very small children were toddling across and a security guard was hanging around in the middle because this is one of those public realm situations overseen by private management. Reassuringly there are no plans to close the nearby Tesco Extra yet because a replacement has to be built first and that won't be ready until at least 2029, over on the site where the cinema used to be. But yes the new Tesco will have lots of flats on top and yes, the current shopping centre will also become flats.
About halfway along the boardwalk is an extra connection to the west side of the dock. At present it's not especially useful but will soon link to plots A1 and A2 which are substantially complete. Plot A1 will include a 35-storey building incorporating retail, offices and flats, while plot A2 is mostly about workspace with restaurants and shops on the ground floor and a full-on council leisure centre in the basement. According to the flags flapping on the dockside the development's chosen buzzwords are Flourish, Connect, Inspire, Explore, Excite, Breathe and Play, although thankfully they've removed the hoarding claiming that Canada Water is 'London's best kept secret'.
The swans seem happy enough already. The Deal Porters statue is back in place. Cycling is not permitted. Four litter bins have been provided. Those crossing the boardwalk are generally smiling. It's a pretty good sweetener all told, but ultimately it's all about flats.
