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The Docklands Development
Twilight on Shadwell Basin &endash; Canary Wharf in the background.The London Docks on the Wapping peninsula had closed by 1969 and stood empty and derelict for many years. In 1975 the London Borough of Tower Hamlets (LBTH) produced a "Local Plan for Wapping". The plan proposed that the docks should be used almost exclusively for Council housing, and the council stared by building houses around the Eastern Dock. The water area of the Eastern dock was filled in and planted with trees and called Wapping Wood. Under this scheme, Shadwell Basin was retained as a recreational area for aquatic sports.
The London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) was established in 1981 under the provisions of the Local Government, Planning and Land Act 1980, with the purpose of regenerating East London in general and the Docklands area in particular.
In 1983 the LDDC published "The Future of Wapping" which, although to some extent sensitive to many of the historical aspects of Wapping, proposed many changes which caused much local resentment.
The establishment of the News International printing works in Wapping in 1979 had an impact on the development of the area. The confrontation with print unions in 1986 emphasised their presence in a very political way. The subsequent development around the works and the more general acceptance of the revolution that 'Fortress Wapping' brought about has tended to soften the impact on the area.
By the late Eighties the wholesale redevelopment of Wapping was well under way. In 1987 the dockside area around Shadwell Basin was redeveloped as housing by Sanctuary Housing Association. See Housing Development
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