THE GREEN-LIGHT has been given for the first 3,300 homes to be built on the Barking Riverside site. Building will start in December this year and some homes will be finished as soon as Spring 2010. The news emerged on Tuesday (June 16) after Barking Rive

THE GREEN-LIGHT has been given for the first 3,300 homes to be built on the Barking Riverside site.

Building will start in December this year and some homes will be finished as soon as Spring 2010.

The news emerged on Tuesday (June 16) after Barking Riverside Ltd was given the go-ahead by London Thames Gateway Development Corporation (LTGDC) for the first two stages of the 10,800 homes project.

The milestone paves the way for the construction of 3,300 homes, a new community infrastructure and two schools.

This is a major step forward for the development as it was earlier feared only 1,500 homes could be built on the site after London Mayor Boris Johnson axed plans for the Docklands Light Railway to be extended to Barking.

Stage one of the project, due to start in December, will see 1,500 homes being built, with a further 1,800 homes to be completed in Stage two.

Forty-one per cent will be affordable housing, of which at least 50 per cent will be socially rented. Of the socially rented homes at least 40 per cent will have three or more bedrooms.

A new primary school is due to open in September 2011, with a secondary school following in 2012.

The approval has also been given for a District Centre, which will include shops, a large health centre, place of worship, library, sports centre, swimming pool and a nursery.

Other plans authorised by the LTGDC this week were for a number of parks, ponds, cycle paths and play grounds at the site.

Construction on the East London Transit (ELT) route via Barking Riverside, essential to the area's success, is due to start in early January 2009 and will start serving residents from early 2010, connecting them to Barking town centre and the wider area.

Peter Andrews, Chief Executive of LTGDC said: "The message should ring out loud and clear across the capital that Barking Riverside is happening.