Examination of Witnesses (Questions 7580
- 7599)
7580. If I may return to my text, Sir. Woolwich
is the main town centre in the Borough and has been identified
in the London Plan as both one of London's main town centres and
as an area for intensification, yet it is under-performing across
a number of socio-economic indicators. The west, south and east
of Woolwich town centre there is a crescent of housing estates
that suffer multiple deprivation. To the north, the River Thames
constitutes a barrier to movement restricting the area in which
local people can seek work and the catchment area for local businesses
Woolwich cries out for regeneration and I am pleased that that
has been recognised by the Promoters The Crossrail Bill could
seize the opportunity to assist that regeneration or it could
pass by and not provide the assistance that Woolwich needs
7581. The proposed route of Crossrail goes beneath
Woolwich town centre, but the station that would have served Woolwich
has been deleted from the scheme. It may have not been apparent
from the opening that you have just heard, but Woolwich was originally
within the scheme. Faced with a desire to save costs, it has been
a deprived community that needs regeneration that has suffered
the cut.
7582. Paragraph five of my opening, Sir, was
written before the receipt of the letter from the Minister on
the fifth of this month and you will therefore need slight alteration.
If the disadvantaged were suffering because their case for a Woolwich
station was weak, it would be understandable. However, the opposite
is the case While the benefit cost ratio for Crossrail as a whole
is 1.88:1, the Promoters have now accepted revised estimates of
benefits which give Woolwich station a benefit cost ratio of between
2:1 and 3.9:1. A Woolwich station would raise Crossrail's overall
benefit cost ratio If economies have to be made, it should surely
be in respect of an element of the scheme with a below average
of benefit cost ratio, not at the expense of a disadvantaged community.
7583. Transport, sir: the current form of the
Bill would leave only one major town along the whole Crossrail
route without a station and that would be Woolwich. There would
be a 7.55 kilometre stationless gap between Custom House and Abbey
Wood leaving a substantial disadvantaged area unserved
7584. Woolwich is not only a main town centre,
it is also a major transport hub served by over 90 'buses per
house. By 2031, 100,000 people will live within a 20 minute 'bus
journey of the town centre. It is the only major transport hub
along the whole of the Crossrail route not to be allocated a station.
7585. The Bill in its current form will give
south-east London only one Crossrail station. That would not be
in a town centre and it would not be at a major transport hub.
Rather, it would be in the overwhelmingly residential area of
Abbey Wood at a location that does not and will not have anything
like the high level of local feeder public transport connections
that Woolwich can offer.
7586. One of the proposals of some Petitioners
before the Committee could be implemented at a later stage, the
construction of a Woolwich station is likely to be now or never.
The cost of constructing a station once Crossrail is operating
would be prohibitive and the disruption of services would be great.
7587. Housing: Woolwich lies at the heart of
the London Thames gateway area where significant residential and
economic growth is anticipated into the future. Such growth will
only be achieved with investment in infrastructure.
7588. Your Petitioner will adduce evidence that
a Woolwich Crossrail station would be directly responsible for
4,350 more new homes in the London Thames gateway. May I again
interpose there. It has been suggested that Greenwich is overstating
its case. Greenwich has, on previous occasions, been told it is
doing that. When North Greenwich station was allowed it was estimated
that 1,000 new homes would be built on the Greenwich peninsula
It is now known that it will be 14,000 new homes on the Greenwich
peninsula. I can imagine what would have been said if Greenwich
had said 14,000 new homes were anticipated when the position of
North Greenwich station was being considered.
7589. Regeneration: you will hear evidence of
the very considerable needs of local people. At this point I shall
draw attention to just one statistic. 21 per cent of Woolwich
residents are within the lowest level of subsistence, more than
twice the UK average of 10 per cent. A Woolwich Crossrail station
would directly create new employment opportunities, whilst also
greatly improving access to the Isle of Dogs, the City and the
West End The Council's evidence will show that a Woolwich Crossrail
station could create over 2,000 net additional jobs, excluding
substantial extra construction employment. A Woolwich Crossrail
station would enhance the image of Woolwich. The town centre would
be able to attract major inward retail and other commercial investment
and provide a good location for back offices for businesses in
high-rent locations further west along the route of Crossrail.
7590. Your Petitioners, sir, strongly believe
that selecting Woolwich station to be cut showed the wrong priorities.
An element of the original scheme that helped the most needy in
society and has a high verified benefit cost ratio should surely
have been retained.
7591. Sir, I intend to call five witnesses:
Mr David McCollum, the Deputy Chief Executive, to give an overview
of the Council's position; Mr Andrew Jones to deal with regeneration;
Mr Nicholas Lambert to deal with the property market case; Mrs
Helen Bowkett to deal with the benefit cost ratio; and Mr Bob
Chard to deal with transport planning and to deal with other outstanding
elements of Greenwich's Petition. There is also, sir, a five-minute
film which has been made available which summarises the Council's
case, and I invite the Committee to look at that at whatever stage
is convenient. Perhaps I could move to my first witness.
7592. Chairman: We have a difficulty
about the film. I will come back to you on that at a later stage,
but perhaps you would like to deal with your first witness.
7593. Mr Jones: Indeed, yes. The first
witness is Mr David McCollum, the Deputy Chief Executive of the
Council.
Mr David McCollum, Sworn
Examined by Mr Jones
7594. Mr Jones: Mr McCollum, I wonder
if you could read your proof please, starting at 1.1.
(Mr McCollum): My name is David McCollum and
I am Deputy Chief Executive at Greenwich Council. For 11 years
until 2005 I was Director of Strategic Planning at the Council
and since 1990 I have been responsible for delivering the regeneration
agenda in Greenwich on behalf of the Council. I am currently responsible
for delivering the Council's £750 million modernisation programme.
My task today, sir, is to set out the high-level economic and
strategic context in which Woolwich finds itself. To do so, it
is necessary to go back a bit. By 1993, Woolwich, as an economic
entity, had virtually come to the end of its useful life. This
was the result of years of progressive and catastrophic decline.
7595. I think we can move to the second slide
and that is a historic photograph, is it not, showing Woolwich?[22]
You can see in the foreground the vacant land and that is the
Royal Arsenal site, is it not?
(Mr McCollum): That is correct.
In the foreground is the Royal Arsenal site and you can see the
raised beach of the Greenwich waterfront taking you through now
to the Dome. This picture was taken around about 2000. We can
see in the case of the Royal Arsenal still decontamination work
going on and you see there the 8½ miles of Greenwich waterfront.
7596. On the river we can see what appears to
be a pier. Are there any developments relevant to transport in
respect of piers?
(Mr McCollum): Yes, what you can actually see
there going backwards and forwards is the Woolwich ferry, the
Woolwich free ferry, the historic ferry, car ferry going between
the two piers of Woolwich and North Woolwich. In addition to that,
there has been constructed in more or less exactly the centre
of that picture, which does not show the pier which has recently
been constructed, but it shows that what has been constructed
is a new pier which is a passenger ferry pier which is close to
the intended site of the Crossrail station and that pier is already
operating as a passenger pier, taking passengers to Canary Wharf
and to central London.
7597. Chairman: Mr Jones, could we list
this document as A84.[23]
7598. Mr Jones: Just while we are on
that photograph, we can see the Woolwich Royal Arsenal site and
we can see immediately to the left of that a dual-carriageway.
What is that?
(Mr McCollum): That is the South Thames Express
Route. That is the dual-carriageway which links the Blackwall
Tunnel to the M25 and the Dartford Tunnel. It is the A205 in number
terms and it links with the South Circular in Woolwich.
7599. Slightly to the left of the dual-carriageway,
there is an area containing several tall buildings. It is the
town centre, is it not?
(Mr McCollum): That is correct.
22 Committee Ref: A84, Aerial Photo of Greenwich (GRCHLB-3605-426). Back
23
Committee Ref: A84, Lond on Borough of Greenwich, Proofs of Evidence
and Supporting Material. Back
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