South London site full of amazing cancer centres could be transformed with cafés and public spaces

Walking around Sutton's long-promised London Cancer Hub site, you could be forgiven for thinking it feels a little unwelcoming. While inside its buildings, some of the country's greatest minds are working to research and treat cancer in all its forms, for the public coming here for world-leading treatment, it still feels a bit industrial.

Located next to the famous Royal Marsden Hospital site in Belmont, Sutton, the London Cancer Hub has been almost 20 years in the making. Under new plans from Sutton Council, the five-hectare site will become an integrated village-like place where patients, medics, researchers and members of the public can mingle.

These plans, led by Sutton's development partner Socius, would see the site joined up with accessible public routes and more regular bus services coming to and from Sutton. Cafés, accommodation and public spaces are also planned, alongside areas for health startups, to ensure the site becomes more of a community-focused hub where people want to spend time instead of simply having to.

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During a recent visit to the site, Socius's Development Director Daniel May told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): "The London Cancer Hub has been talked about for 15-20 years. There's probably a jadedness and eye roll when people talk about it. Now we're here, and we've put a lot of money into it. It's going to happen."

Mr May said the new plans are part of an ambition for researchers to mix with others from outside the lab in cafés or other social spaces to ensure knowledge is shared and communities are built. He added: "We want to make places people want to come and want to live and settle down longer term. The other [types of development] know that in order to attract wider talent, they need to build something beyond the buildings. Science used to be 'arms round your homework', now it's all about collaboration. Science should happen inside the lab and in the pub."

Olaide Oboh, Executive Director at Socius, said: "We want to front-load social elements of this plan and bring them in first. There are 2,000 staff members here but you can't really see them, because they're in their buildings and there's not much for them do outside."

The site, which sits alongside the renowned Institute for Cancer Research (ICR), includes Harris Academy Sutton, a standout STEM-focused secondary school built with sustainability in mind, which opened in 2019. That same year, the Maggie's Centre opened, offering vital support for cancer patients and their families.

In 2020, the ICR unveiled its cutting-edge Centre for Cancer Drug Discovery, while The Innovation Gateway, an incubator hub fostering enterprise and collaboration, opened its doors in 2021. Most recently, 2023 marked the opening of the state-of-the-art Oak Cancer Centre at the Royal Marsden.

But the huge site still resembles a collection of large separate buildings, which staff and patients says means it can feel isolated and unwelcoming. Moreover, the northern half of the site is occupied by a vast building site and is littered with diggers trying to demolish and clear the remains of the old Sutton Hospital site.

Sutton Council hopes this site will form the centrepiece of what is being called 'one of London's most significant regeneration projects'. Sutton hopes these ambitious plans will lead to a £12m increase in business rates paid to the local authority and create 13,000 jobs in health, science, education, and construction during the project. It also aims to become one of London's leading science hubs and eventually contribute around £1.2bn to the UK economy.

Socius, along with partners Aviva, admit the plans will take time to come to full fruition and will be staggered in their delivery. Despite this, they suggested a hybrid planning application could be delivered in the coming months, and said that staff and visitors could begin to see the first signs of change next year.

Alongside new eateries, public spaces and even a sauna, work is already under way to ensure that transport and accessibility in and around the site is improved. While one bus already serves the site, there are plans to improve and increase services.

The London Cancer Hub currently has a number of pay to park spots, and will also continue to accommodate for those needing to drive as public transport often isn't plausible for people undergoing cancer treatment.

Last year, it was announced Sutton won a £14 million bid from the Department of Levelling Up to double the number of trains coming into the nearby Belmont station. These works, expected to be completed in 2026, are to be accompanied by ongoing accessibility improvements on the roads between the hub and the station.

However, both May and Oboh acknowledged that many staff and visitors will still have to rely on car travel to the site. This presents a particular challenge around the road network as the site is surrounded by residential streets.

Ms Oboh said: "One in two people are going to get cancer, so anything we are trying to do to address that should be supported. But, naturally people do worry about how it will affect their school run and traffic, we're not deaf to that. The road infrastructure is quite difficult in and around the site at the moment, so we are looking at how we can improve that and put more capacity on the road. We are also looking at improving other forms of transport on the site."

Residents shared some of the concerns raised by Oboh regarding traffic in the surrounding suburban streets. One resident, who lived on Cotswold Road opposite the site, told the LDRS: "Of course I'm all in favour of the hub, I've got family members who've received treatment there before. They need to do something about the traffic it will bring, though. This area already gets busy around rush hour, if it keeps growing I don't know how residents will cope."

In response to this, Socius is undergoing consultation with local groups and residents to ensure the site fits the needs of the local area while keeping its reputation. May said that currently, '98 per cent of recipients are either positive or neutral about the site' but acknowledged that they need to hear from more people.

Mr May told the LDRS: "I'd encourage anyone with a connection to Sutton, who were unable to make the in-person events, to take part in the online survey and have their say before the application for London Cancer Hub is submitted to Sutton Council."

The deadline for the online survey is December 11, and can be found here.

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