Plans for a controversial redevelopment in Wathamstow town centre have included an option for a new entrance to the area’s main tube station.

There is a combined bus, tube and rail station at Walthamstow Central, and the tube station shares the main entrance building with the railway.

This poses a couple of issues, in that there isn’t a secondary exit from the tube station in case of fire, nor does it offer any capacity relief at the main entrance.

A redevelopment of The Mall, a large shopping area in the town centre, has included a provision for a possible second entrance to the tube station.

The development is quite controversial locally due to the plans lacking affordable housing, but also for reducing a large open green space between the current transport entrance and the shopping area by a third to accommodate extra housing and shopping.

As part of the planning approval, the developer, Capital & Regional is putting up £1.5 million towards a possible upgrade of Walthamstow Central Station in the future.

The details of the upgrade are however still embryonic at best, and will certainly cost more than the £1.5 million currently committed by the developer.

Through discussions with TfL, the planning application has been designed to ensure that it will not prevent improvements to the underground station from taking place. Beyond that, the planning documents don’t make any comment, other than discussions are ongoing, and will be secured outside of the present planning application and subject to ongoing private treaty arrangements.

If the new entrance is built, it will create a link to the northern side of the new shopping centre, and one that will be much closer to the heart of the main high street of retail stores.