The beginning:

To understand the scope and length of the Old Kent Road Action plan, we need to go back ten years.

Origins of the London Plan:

The London Plan is the long-term development strategy for London, led by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and the Mayor of London.

It guides how London develops over roughly 20 – 25 years, covering housing, transport, economic growth, climate policy, infrastructure, and land use.

The first London Plan (2004):

The first official London Plan was published in 2004 under Ken Livingstone – the first directly elected mayor.

However, the only area earmarked for development in South London was Elephant and Castle.

The Old Kent Road area was mentioned as an important corridor but not an "Opportunity Area" in its own right.

"London thus faces a radical challenge, which requires a radical policy response." - Ken Livingstone (2004).

The second London Plan (2008):

Mayor Boris Johnson pushed for large-scale housing development across London as the city's housing crisis begins to escalate.

In response, he published alterations to Livingstone's existing plans in 2008 and again in 2011, abolishing the 50% housing target and encouraging boroughs to approve individual developments.

"So this Plan is more focussed than its predecessor. It concentrates on things of really strategic, Londonwide importance and does not try to micro-manage aspects better sorted out locally"

– Boris Johnson (2011)

The turning point for the Old Kent Road:

The 2014 – 2015 focus on the Bakerloo Line extension pushed the Old Kent Road to the forefront of major transport upgrades through South London.

Transport for London started treating the area as a “future Tube corridor”.

Planners realised you cannot build high-density housing in Old Kent Road without massive transport upgrades.

The road became the focus of a formal planning framework.

A major milestone:

Under Sadiq Khan's new London Plan, the Old Kent Road was officially labelled as an "Opportunity Area".

The road entered the core strategic London Plan framework.

This included:

The possibility of around 20,000 homes

Tens of thousands of jobs

Major infrastructure upgrades

Detailed planning commences:

Southwark Council held a public consultation from June – September 2017.

Feedback from residents included:

• More green space
• Manage air pollution
• Ensure more industrial land is kept for employment only rather than development

"Land zoning":

Southwark Council and the Greater London Authority (GLA) took the public's feedback into consideration and agreed on Old Kent Road's different 'zones'.

They defined areas as residential, commercial, or industrial and made sharper decisions about what industrial land stays versus gets redeveloped.

Other developments to the Action Plan included details on how tall tower blocks would be and where they would go.

Public consultations:

Further consultations revealed that residents wanted:

Additional schools to cater for population increase

Protection of historical sites, like the listed gasholder, and the Old Kent Road's creative community

Larger shops like supermarkets, B&Q and Pets At Home should be saved

The final draft:

After years of consultation, in 2020 the GLA and Southwark Council had produced a near-final version of the Area Action Plan.

A plan set to become law:

Southwark Council produced the Draft Old Kent Road Area Action Plan (2024), which is the most complete version before it becomes law.

The final public consultation was held in April 2025.

Where are we now:

A Planning Inspectorate hearing will take place over two weeks, starting on 9 June and ending on 17 June, 2026.

2000 years of change

The Old Kent Road is no stranger to change. Over its 2,000-year history, it has continually evolved alongside the community it serves — from a Roman route into Londinium, to a medieval pilgrimage road, and later an industrial transport corridor.

While its past is defined by movement and transition, the road now sits at the centre of renewed attention and long-standing debates about regeneration.

Its history raises a wider question that continues to shape discussion today: what does the future hold for one of London’s oldest routes?

THE ROMAN PERIOD

The beginnings of a transport route...

The road was originally built as the Roman Watling Street, connecting Londinium and the South East.

It ran from the Roman port at Dover through London to the West Midlands and was built shortly after the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43.

^{_{500 – 1500}}
THE MIDDLE AGES

A pilgrim and military route..

In the Middle Ages, the Old Kent Road became the primary pilgrim route between London, Canterbury and the Kent coast.

Pilgrims travelled along the Old Kent Road to the shrine of former Archbishop Thomas a Becket in Canterbury, often gathering at The Tabard, one of the famous inns of Borough High Street.

It was also a significant setting as a pilgrim route in Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

The thoroughfare became known as the 'Kent Road' or 'Kent Street' and the route was used by soldiers returning from the Battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Public executions...

In the 16th century, it was still used predominantly by pilgrims and public executions would happen at a small stream, called St Thomas-a-Watering.

The stream was located near the former Thomas A Becket pub, which is now a restaurant.

At the stream, people convicted of treason and religious dissent were publicly executed.

Pilgrims on their way to Kent would also stop on route to let their horses drink from the stream.

By the 18th century, the road was still largely rural, and a number of coaching inns were established along it to serve travellers.

^{_{1800 – 1900}}
THE GOLDEN AGE OF INDUSTRY AND PUBLIC HOUSES

A new high street...

In the early 1800s, the area transformed from farmland into an urban district as terraced housing, schools, churches, pubs, gardens, and industrial plots were built.

Front gardens were gradually converted into shopfronts, forming a continuous high street.

The Grand Surrey Canal...

A significant development during this period was the building of the Grand Surrey Canal.

The Old Kent Road branch of the canal was opened in 1807 and quickly became a vital transport link.

Sailing barges, with their spacious hulls, would carry all sorts of cargo, ranging from bibles to limestone – but the most common material was timber. 

The road had 37 pubs in its heyday...

In the late Victorian period, the Old Kent Road had around 37 pubs in operation along its length.

Today, only two — The Lord Nelson and The Windsor — remain in use as pubs.

Some former pub buildings survive but have been repurposed. The Dun Cow is now a doctor’s surgery, while the Kentish Drovers has been converted into a restaurant.

Others have been demolished entirely and replaced by modern retail. At 762 Old Kent Road, the former Suffolk Arms site is now occupied by a Lidl, while at 799 Old Kent Road, the Rising Sun has been replaced by The Food Warehouse.

Above all, Victorian Londoners would have known the Old Kent Road as a place of industry and revelry; associated with the docks, the pubs, the railway and the South Metropolitan Gasworks.

^{_{1900 – 1950}}
THE SECOND WORLD WAR

Much of Old Kent Road's industry and infrastructure was a target during German bombing raids.

The Wellington Baths on the corner of Old Kent Road and Marlborough Grove were built in 1905 but destroyed during the Blitz.

^{_{1950 –1970}}
POST-WAR SOCIAL HOUSING AND ROAD NETWORKS

In the post-war era, the make-up of Old Kent Road was reshaped by major road-led planning.

Increased traffic led to the construction of the Bricklayer’s Arms junction and flyover, connecting the Old Kent Road to Elephant and Castle.

Road widening schemes were conducted to support car-oriented businesses, such as those on Mandela Way.

Planning also introduced council housing estates set back from the road.

This included the Tustin Estate (built 1964 – 1969) which is currently being demolished.

^{_{1980 – 2000}}
RETAIL PARKS AND HOUSING

In the 1980s, the council began to develop low rise cul-de-sac housing after a negative reaction to the brutalist modernism of the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle and the Aylesbury Estate in Walworth.

Multiple retail parks were developed:,

• The Mandela Way Industrial Estate in 1984
• Cantium Retail Park in 1992
• Southernwood Retail Park in 1994