Stephen Oakes to join LTGDC as new Director of Development
9 July 2009
Stephen Oakes, Director for the London Region of the Homes
and Communities Agency (HCA), is set to join the London Thames
Gateway Development Corporation as its new Director of
Development.
A chartered surveyor and qualified structural engineer, Oakes
has over 25 years’ experience in land and property, particularly in
the planning and delivery of large, complex regeneration sites for
the public and private sectors.
In 2002, he joined English
Partnerships (EP) in the Milton Keynes office but soon after became
an Area Director when the London and Thames Gateway region was
first set up within EP. In 2005 he also took on the
responsibility of Project Director for the £1bn London-Wide
Initiative, an affordable housing delivery programme. Later
he was appointed the Regional Director for London and Thames
Gateway and held this role until the formation of the HCA.
Before joining English Partnerships he spent a large part of
his career in the property divisions of the former British Gas,
delivering and enabling retail, residential and commercial schemes
across the UK, the majority of which were on brownfield sites.
Oakes will lead a 12 strong development team
at LTGDC along side Deputy Development Director Mark Bradbury.
In the year gone LTGDC investments in the Lower Lea Valley
and London Riverside totalled £37 million with projected investment
spend for 2009/10 set to reach £40 million.
Oakes inherits an impressive and varied
portfolio of development projects which include the London
Sustainable Industries Park at Dagenham Dock – where a potential
development partner is set to be selected later this year – and the
Barking Creative Industries Quarter – where planning consent was
recently granted for 220 residential units and 7,000 sq metres of
work space for creative industries.
Oakes will also lead on bringing the Lea River
Park project – which aims to join the existing Lea Valley Park to
the mouth of the Thames in the south – from concept to reality.
Under his watch LTGDC is also set to deliver in earnest its
regeneration programme for Havering and other parts of East London.
Oakes appointment comes as the consequences of
the liquidity and financial market turbulence play out in the real
economy. But LTGDC Chief Executive Peter Andrews remained upbeat
about LTGDC’s objectives and the important role it is playing to
create the right conditions for private sector investment.
He said: “Our success
in the next financial year will be strongly reliant on our
effectiveness in continuing to provide the strong lead needed to
make regeneration a reality. With Steve Oakes on board I’m
confident that we can achieve this.
“LTGDC is uniquely placed in these times to
create the right environment to incentivise private sector
participation and involvement. Our corporate plan objectives remain
in place but our approach to delivery at the half way point is to
ensure that the components of our plans that are best placed to
instill confidence and involvement of the private sector are our
priority.”
Stephen Oakes said: “East London needs a focused and skilled
regeneration agency that can focus its development expertise to
drive private investor involvement in regeneration. LTGDC is
that agency and I'm looking forward to working with a wide range of
partners to deliver economic and infrastructure benefits across
East London.”
Stephen Oakes will join the LTGDC in August 2009.