New park for Waterloo in £2bn facelift

The area has suffered from decades of under-investment and poor planning while the buzzing riverside strip has taken off.

Ken Livingstone plans to expand the "cultural quarter" further south after the £100 million makeover of the Royal Festival Hall.

The Mayor has unveiled a £2 billion development plan he hopes will attract tourists, businesses and homebuyers. The changes include:

The IMAX roundabout will be reconfigured while the neglected underpasses below will be destroyed and a city park built in their place.

The concourse of Waterloo station will be expanded and brought down to street level while the platforms will be lengthened to boost capacity. Several of the Eurostar platforms will be converted for domestic use next year.

Down-at-heel streets surrounding the station, including Lower Marsh market, will get a facelift.

Up to 2,500 more homes will be built and at least 5,000 new jobs could be created in construction or new offices, leisure facilities and shops.

A new station entrance at York Road will be opened and Waterloo Road will be paved over to improve pedestrian access to the South Bank.

The Cross River Tram linking Camden with Peckham and Brixton will carry 66 million passengers a year through the area.

The revamp could propel the SE1 postcode into London's premier league.

Network Rail will unveil plans next year for a £1.25 billion revamp of Waterloo station itself - with about a third expected to be funded by the taxpayer.

The tram, currently unfunded, could add another £650million to the bill, although local councils along the route could be obliged to pitch in.

Much of the money to revamp the area from St Thomas' Hospital to Gabriel's Wharf would be from developers building offices, flats and shops. The Mayor will spend at least £1million on the city park and City Hall and Lambeth council could still end up paying millions more.

Mr Livingstone said: "Waterloo welcomes millions of people to London every year and it's also a gateway to the South Bank. It is vital we improve the attractiveness of the station and its surroundings."

A City Hall aide added: "Poor planning and design over many decades has allowed the area to be developed without proper co-ordination."

Paul McGlone, Lambeth council's cabinet member for regeneration, said: "This is the start of an exciting new era for this part of the borough."