Future of historic London markets assured with new Docklands home

After almost eight centuries at the heart of life in the capital, and a period where their future lay in doubt, Smithfield and Billingsgate markets are to get a new home on a former industrial site in east London.

- Joanna Partridge

The proposal by the City of London Corporation - the governing body that runs both sites as well as the Square Mile financial district - would relocate the markets to Newham's Royal Docks.

The announcement comes just over a year after the corporation voted to permanently close Smithfield meat market and Billingsgate fish market when it pulled the plug on a planned £740m relocation to Dagenham, blaming rising costs.

At the time, it said it was no longer planning to build a joint replacement location. Instead, it had offered financial support to the traders to help them find new premises.

Now the corporation has identified Albert Island, a brownfield site in Royal Docks owned by the Greater London Authority (GLA) and earmarked for regeneration, for the move. Despite being next to London City airport's runway, the 10-hectare (25-acre) site is little-known, even to Londoners.

The corporation estimates the project would generate £750m in local expenditure and bring 2,200 jobs to Newham, one of the capital's most deprived boroughs.