Thames Gateway on track

The £9.6 billion regeneration project in the Thames Gateway will not be weakened by the economic crisis, Margaret Beckett said. Building targets for the area include 160,000 new homes by 2016. However, recent news shows that house building has virtually ground to a halt. Never-the-less Ms Beckett announced plans for a new ‘eco-quarter’ within the Gateway, where green technologies will be developed and tested, for the ‘Thames Gateway to become a showcase for sustainable living’ and a prime example of how government intervention and support is helping deal with the global economic pressures.