Outline planning permission has been granted for the £3.5bn Silvertown Quay project on land neighbouring the Royal Docks in East London.

The 62 acre Royal Docks site will provide offices, leisure and retail facilities and 3,000 homes including affordable housing.

Chelsfield, alongside partners Imagination Europe and First Base are planning more than 3m sq ft of mixed-use space on the 50-acre docklands site owned by Government.

The first phase, which aims to be finished by 2018 in time for the new Crossrail connections, will see the iconic 450,000 sq ft Millennium Mills site converted into a hub for technology, media and telecoms businesses.

Work began earlier this year to strip out asbestos from the former flour mill as part of a £12m grant by the Department for Communities and Local Government.

At the core of the new London Quarter will be a series of branded pavilions to showcase and exhibit products from leading global brands.

The developers claim the re-enlivened dock will be the world’s first cluster of purpose-built centres for product innovation.

As part of the Section 106 legal agreement, the developer would provide £10m to Workplace, Newham Council’s job brokerage scheme, this would be used to provide training  and support for Newham residents to ensure they have the skills needed to take advantage of the 20,700 new jobs the development is expected to generate.

It is also hoped the development will create 20,700 jobs over the next 10 years.

The application will now be referred to the Mayor of London and then to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Secretary of State for Transport before a final decision can be issued.