MULTIPLEX, the Australian property group that is building the new Wembley stadium, was given approval last night for a landmark 43-storey residential tower at Elephant & Castle.

The tower, which will be 147 metres (482ft) tall, will be a crucial part of Southwark council’s £1.5 billion regeneration plans for the run-down transport hub in South London.

The project, which is being developed with Espalier, includes 399 apartments. A smaller five-storey pavilion, which will have nine apartments, will also be built.

The builders will install wind turbines, which will reduce energy costs by 40 per cent for each of the 408 flats.

A second project, by Oakmayne Properties, was also approved by Southwark council. This scheme includes a 214bedroom hotel, a five-screen arts cinema, 219 homes, restaurants and shops, which will spill out on to a new market square. It will also offer new retail space for existing businesses in Elephant & Castle. The council said that the two projects represented a combined investment of about £200 million. Construction work on both developments will start by the end of this year.

Chris Horn, project director for Elephant & Castle, said that approval for the developments marked the end of the planning phase and the start of the delivery phase for the council’s regeneration plans.

Councillors also want to remove dark, concrete subways on the southern side of Elephant & Castle in the summer to help to reduce crime.

Over the next few months, residents of the Heygate Estate, which is unpopular with residents and is badly neglected, will also begin to move into newly built replacement homes in the area.

The council expects that Elephant & Castle will have benefited from the radical revamp by 2014. As part of the plans, the Heygate Estate and the red shopping centre, which has become an icon of the area, will be demolished. Five new open spaces will be created, as well as a new civic square.

The gyratory traffic system will be re-routed to give priority to public transport, including a proposed cross- river tram.

In addition to the Multiplex and Oakmayne projects, Southwark council is expected to pick a preferred partner for further large-scale commercial and residential developments in September.

The partner will be asked to help to deliver 5,000 new homes, up to 800,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space and more than one million sq ft of offices and public space.

The council has shortlisted three parties.

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