Yet to fully realise the opportunities brought by the Elizabeth Line, Western Ilford Town Centre suffers from a hostile and car-dominated public realm, creating high degree of severance to surrounding areas, hindering the potential of its development. Periscope’s approach works to revitalise Ilford by bringing cohesion to a fragmented planning context, and by unlocking some of its undervalued assets. Supported by funding from the Greater London Authority’s Civic Partnership Programme, Periscope has worked closely with Redbridge Council to develop a strategy and a sequence of exemplar projects that the Council intends to bring forward over the coming years.

The strategy focuses on the revitalisation the River Roding and its adjacent habitats, unlocking development sites, expanding access to green space and improving climate resilience, while restoring connection from Ilford to other local centres with a network of public-realm improvements routes.

Redbridge Council will initiate the strategy in the short-term through a series of small-scale interventions, including new active travel routes, green spaces, footbridges, and an Urban Room which seeks to diversify authorship in the public realm particularly for women, girls and other locally underrepresented groups.

Over the coming decade the implementation of Ilford Arrival will enable delivery of over 3000 homes, unlock land value, joint venture partnerships for mixed use sites while improving the liveability of the town centre for existing and new residents alike.

The strategy was submitted for CPP funding to the GLA in spring 2024. In August 2024 the project was awarded £3m (to be matched by Redbridge Council) one of only five boroughs in London to secure funding.