This work involved several strands with a collective goal of ensuring developments in the OA contributed to a cohesive and liveable community.

The first element of our work involved working with landowners to establish the anticipated phasing of the circa 20,000 housing units planned for the area. Using this data, we then developed a population growth model which was used by service providers to identify both the types/quantum of requirements for community infrastructure and also the timing of delivery to support emerging communities. Using this data, we then established the timing of financial contributions from developers to identify shortfalls in funding that would need to be addressed from other funding sources.

The second element of the work commission was to calculate the ‘incremental’ or enhanced business rate income that new developments in the area would generate. This enhanced income would then be used to back a HM Treasury loan to fund construction of the Northern Line Extension (NLE). Our modelling identified that enhanced business rate income would generate sufficient funding to fund the entire circa £1 bn cost of the NLE after taking into account the £250 million contribution from Battersea Power Station. Our work formed the basis for the legal agreement on funding between LB Wandsworth, HM Treasury and TfL.