Summer in Canary Wharf - Big Screen, Westferry Circus outdoor theatre and Floating Swimming Pool

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Summer Screens

Canary Wharf’s free open-air cinema and entertainment screens return to Canada Square Park, running from 4th June to 1st September. As well as the Film Club the screens will provide coverage of Wimbledon and key cricket fixtures. Visit the CWG website here for more information and the events programme.

Outdoor theatre at Westferry Circus

Canary Wharf’s outdoor theatre returns including several performances under our noses here at Westferry Circus. On Wednesday 17th June the 440 Theatre give their take on Macbeth (starts 7pm) and Friday 7th August (7pm) the Alfresco Theatre perform Jeeves and Wooster in ‘Stiff Upper Lip Jeeves’. Grab your picnic blanket and a beverage and head to the roundabout!.

London’s new floating natural water swimming pool

Sea Lanes Canary Wharf officially opens on Friday 19th June. A 50-metre six-lane floating pool, offering year-round outdoor swimming. More information can be found on the Sea Lanes website here.

Closures affecting car park access: 17th-19th April and 26th April

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There are two events that will impact residents’ access to the underground car park over two weekends in April:

Filming activity 17th - 19th April

Access to underground roundabout on Westferry Road on which our car park entrance is located will be controlled at various times to facilitate filming as follows:

  • Friday 17th April 08:00-18:00 (Stop/Go Traffic Management)

  • Saturday 18 April 8:00-18:00 (Road Closure with Diversions from 06:00-23:59)

  • Sunday 19th April until 08:00 - 12:00 (Stop/Go Traffic Management until 12:00 when roads return to normal)

Please see the correspondence from the film production company here for more information.

2026 London Marathon - Sunday 26th April

Canary Riverside residents will be familiar with the annual London Marathon and its route that takes runners down Westferry Road and through the underground roundabout, thereby completely blocking access to the residents’ car park.

Road closures will be in operation from 7am. Please check the road closure leaflet for more information.

There will be no access in/out of the car park for the duration of the race. As is usual on marathon days, Parkgate Aspen will take the opportunity to carry out maintenance of the car park entrance fire shutters and barriers.

If you need access to your car on marathon day you will need to remove it the night before and park somewhere unaffected by the road closures.

If you will be at home that day, marathon day is a great opportunity to cheer on the world’s elite marathon runners and the thousands of amateur runners that will follow behind. Your cheers and encouragement can make all the difference to a runner’s motivation!

Tribunal grants Right to Manage to Canary Riverside

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On Friday 12th December the First-tier Tribunal (FTT) issued its decision that leaseholders at Canary Riverside, through the RTM Company, are entitled to obtain the Right to Manage:

“The Tribunal determines, pursuant to s.84(3) Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Act 2002 (“the 2002 Act”), that the Applicant RTM Company (“the RTM Co”) Act was, on the relevant date, entitled to acquire the right to manage the development known as Canary Riverside situated on Westferry Circus London E14 excluding Westferry 1 (WF1).”

The full decision can be found here and information about Right to Manage and what it means can be found on the RTM tab of the website.

This is a tremendous achievement. The change in the law (finally!) enabling Canary Riverside’s leaseholders to apply for RTM only happened on March 3rd this year. The RTM application required gaining the support of more than 50% of leaseholders and expert evidence to demonstrate to the tribunal that the qualifying criteria for RTM were met. Just a brief scan of the full decision demonstrates how complex this is.

The FTT’s decision is subject to a mandatory right of appeal within 28 days.

Canary Wharf Pier - temporary generators

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Thames Clippers have advised that they are installing temporary generators next to the Canary Wharf Pier. Paul Cohen, the project manager for Orbit Clipper, the new electric cross river ferry (between the Hilton Rotherhithe and Canary Wharf piers) has advised the following:

“You will probably have seen the work on the pier at Canary Wharf readying it for use with the new ferry, the next step in the project is to test the vessel in the new berths with automated ramps.

Unfortunately, we have encountered some issues with the land-side power supply which means to test the vessel and begin crew training we need to instal a temporary generator at the top of the Canary Wharf pier to charge the vessel overnight. The generator will be installed on 6th October and is expected to be required for approximately 14 weeks [mid-Januray 2026].

We will of course make every effort to avoid any inconvenience or disturbance to residents. The generator is a quiet diesel generator which will be situated on land at the downriver side of the entrance to the pier. It will have a pen of acoustic panelling to reduce noise impact, and the generator only produces 70db when running, which is approximately the level of noise a vacuum cleaner creates.

To reduce the impact further the generator will be set on a timer and will only run for the period required to charge the vessel.

I am assured that the generator is very quiet and that residents should not notice that it’s running. If we do get ongoing complaints we would initially add another layer of acoustic panels to see if that resolves the noise”.

If Canary Riverside residents do experience any disturbance from the generators please could they report it to Ronnie McCarthy, our estate manager, in the first instance.

Alternative heating system

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The electric FCU heating systems installed in Canary Riverside’s apartments were bespoke to the Estate when it was built in 1998/9. Heating elements located within each FCU provide the heating - sort of like a giant fan heater. It’s not the most efficient of systems, is expensive to run and because it was bespoke replacement parts can be difficult to source.

The FCUs also are used for the communal cooling system, using chilled water supplied by centralised chiller plant.

Some residents have installed underfloor heating when replacing their flooring. Another option that residents are increasingly looking to is electric radiators that offer wifi control and flexibility in respect of output. They can be controlled remotely, enabling residents to switch their heating on/off when they’re not at home.

An example is the ADAX NEO WiFi electric wall heater - see link here.

The radiators can be hardwired or plugged in. NB: we recommend that you use an electrician if installing a new electric heating system, to ensure that you are not overloading any of your electrical circuits.




Ride London Sunday 26th May 2024

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Ride London takes place on Sunday 26 May. This event will lead to road closures across London and Essex.

 As part of this festival, several roads, bridges, and bus routes will be affected throughout the day. We advise all residents to plan journeys accordingly and expected delays or diversions.

 For more information on specific road closures and alternative routes, please visit www.ridelondon.co.uk

Paws on the Wharf

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Put your best paw forward and get ready for an unmissable free art trail - running for eight weeks, from 25 March to 17 May 2024 in Canary Wharf. https://www.guidedogs.org.uk/paws-on-the-wharf/

Paws on the Wharf has brought a collection of larger-than-life guide dog sculptures to Canary Wharf, each individually decorated by talented artists in vibrant designs. Pick up the scent and follow this outdoor trail of discovery for an accessible and fun celebration of our iconic much-loved guide dogs. A great free activity for all the family over the Easter holiday and early May bank holiday.

Brought to you by Guide Dogs and Wild in Art, supported by Citi and hosted by Canary Wharf Group and Canal & River Trust, Paws on the Wharf aims to raise awareness and vital funds to help people with sight loss live more active and independent lives.

London Marathon - Sunday 21 April

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The London Marathon route will be going through the Canary Wharf estate which means extensive road closures and the closure of the Canary Riverside car park between 08:00 - 19:00.

If you need your car on Sunday 21st April you will need to leave the car park before 8am or move your car to a location where you can access it outside of the road closures.

Having the Marathon on our doorstep is a great opportunity for Canary Riverside residents to cheer on all the runners, including the elite athletes (who will be the first to pass us) through to club runners and fun-runners. The route passes in front of Circus Apartments and the Hotel and down into the underground roundabout on Westferry Road. You will get a chance to see the runners again as they run up Bank Street, after their lap of the Isle of Dogs.

Canary Riverside £1.6m unreasonable Insurance commissions raised by MPs at parliamentary committee discussing Leasehold reform.

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Canary Riverside leaseholders’ on-going challenge of £1.6M of unreasonable insurance commissions paid to WMS, a Landlord-owned company, continues to be quoted by MPs as an example of why leasehold law must be reformed.

At yesterday (16/01/24) afternoon’s select committee hearing MP Barry Gardiner quizzed Matt Brewis, the FCA’s head of insurance, as to how at Canary Riverside there was no contract or documentation between Reich (the insurance broker) and WMS (the Yianis Group-owned company that was paid £1.6m) outlining the sharing of insurance commissions and fees [according to the Landlord’s oral and written evidence to the FTT].

Asked by Gardiner if the idea that an FCA regulated broker was unable to provide a FTT with a written contract was “strange” Brewis simply answered: “Yes”.

Scott McGee of the Insurance Post provides a summary of Matt Brewis’s evidence to the Select Committee here.

Council approves rooftop terrace - with conditions

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Tower Hamlets Council has this week published its decision regarding the Landlord’s renewed application to create a 6th 5th floor open-air terrace/restaurant on top of the ‘Club’ (Virgin Active/Battery Club) building.

The Council’s planning committee approved the application - but has taken into consideration the concerns of the Canary Riverside residents regarding noise disturbance. Customers will only be able to access the roof terrace between 08:00-20:00 hours, and the terrace must not be used after 21:00 hours (ie, it must be closed-up by that time).

A copy of the conditional permission for development can be found here.

In a further development, the new Tenant for the former Battery Club has applied to the Council’s Licensing Committee for a premises licence that would enable it to operate between Noon and 02:30 hours every day, with entertainment including live music and dance, plays and films, and the serving of alcohol and late night refreshment. A copy of the application can be found here. The application proposes that entry/exit to the premises after 22:30hrs should be through the Canary Riverside car park.

The new Tenant is a company called E14 Lounge Ltd. Companies House records state the company is under the control of Mr Amar Ashraf, who was appointed as a director on 1st November 2023. His occupation is listed as ‘director’.

New door entry fobs - activation begins Tuesday 27th June

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Parkste Aspen have advised that the activation of the new fob entry system will be starting on Tuesday 27th June 2023.

The sequencing of activation of the new system is planned as follows:

  • Tuesday 27th: Berkeley Tower, starting with the main car park entry barriers at P2

  • Wednesday 28th: Hanover House, including the main entrance gates from Westferry Circus and residents’ parking barrier at P1

  • Thursday 29th: Eaton House, Circus Apartments and side gate beside the Hotel

  • Friday 30th: Belgrave Court and the Club/Gym garden gate.

    Please keep both your existing card and your new fob with you until you are satisfied that the new fob access is working correctly for your needs. Additional security staff will be onsite to assist during the transition.

Sunday 28th May - Ride London Road Closures

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From Transport for London:

On Sunday 28 May, there will be extensive road closures across central London, east London and Essex for the Ford RideLondon cycling event. Many bus routes will be on diversion or stopping short of their destinations between 03:00 and 22:00.

Stratford and Canning Town bus stations are expected to be very busy during the event as routes to and from the stations will be disrupted. You may need to queue before being able to board.

Tube and rail services will be the best ways to cross the river and get around London, as the majority of TfL Tube and rail services will be running as normal. For more information about the event, visit the Ford RideLondon website.

For customers using bus services, you are advised to plan ahead, allow more time for your journey and check before you travel. For information to help plan your journey and for a full list of affected bus routes, visit our website.