Livingstone gives green light for Dome development

London Mayor Ken Livingstone yesterday (Thursday) withdrew his threat to block plans to develop the Millennium Dome site at Greenwich.

He withdrew his threat after reaching an agreement with the development consortium Meridian Delta on the amount of affordable housing allocated within the south London scheme.

The project, which will see the Dome used as a 20,000-seater arena and will include the construction of new offices, shops, a school and hotel, will have 4,100 affordable homes made available out of a total of 10,000 homes.

Livingstone was looking for a higher figure of 5,000 affordable homes after Greenwich Council approved the scheme in April.

However he is reported to be happy with the compromise.

The deal will result in a £550m return to the government over a 25-year period.