Following the completion of her second term as the Chair of the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC), Liz Peace will step down from the Board in November after seven years spearheading one of the capital’s largest regeneration projects.
Appointed in 2017 by the Mayor of London, Liz has overseen the regeneration plans of the Old Oak and Park Royal Opportunity Area, where over 25,000 new homes and 56,000 new jobs are targeted around the new HS2 station at Old Oak Common.
Her accomplishments as Chair – including strengthening OPDC’s leadership, adopting a 20-year planning framework and seeing thousands of affordable homes built - have laid a clear delivery path for this nationally significant project.
Under Liz’s tenure, OPDC has worked closely with national government, securing £240m in public sector funding to acquire strategic sites in Old Oak and unlock 70 acres of brownfield development land.
With these vital foundations in place, the corporation is bringing forward plans for 9,000 new and affordable homes and tens of thousands of jobs, new retail, services, and public open space, in the heart of the OPDC area, creating a new canalside district for London around the new HS2 and the Elizabeth Line Old Oak Common station.
Liz has brought over 40 years’ experience of working in government and the property sector. Before her appointment as OPDC Chair, she was Chief Executive of the British Property Federation and subsequently took up several non-executive roles, chairing the Government Property Agency, the property industry diversity charity, Real Estate Balance and the Sponsor Board for the Houses of Parliament Restoration and Renewal Programme.
She currently chairs the University of Cambridge Property Board, acts as Senior Independent Governor for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and sits on the boards of Howard de Walden Estates, Greencore Homes and AEW REIT.
The Mayor of London will begin recruitment for a new OPDC Chair in August 2024.
As Chair of one of London’s largest and most important regeneration projects, Liz has played a key part in the city’s prosperity and future growth. Her leadership has laid the foundations for the success of Old Oak and Park Royal, ready to deliver tens of thousands of affordable homes for Londoners.
As OPDC embarks on a new and exciting chapter to secure major investment and growth for the capital, I wholeheartedly thank Liz for all her work and wish her every best wish for the future.
After a wonderful seven years, the time has come for me to step down as Chair of OPDC. I’m immensely proud of the incredible work that OPDC has done and continues to do, to create a new district for London, unparalleled in its inclusivity and sustainability – a real place for real Londoners. But now is the time to invite a fresh perspective to drive the corporation forward as it starts the search for development and investment partners to deliver this incredible urban transformation.