Examination of Witnesses (Questions 7660
- 7679)
7660. We can see the location of the potential
Crossrail Station by the yellow cross.
(Mr Jones) Indeed, and it is in many of the
estates marked in brown and it is where the areas I have just
described come from, Woolwich Riverside and Woolwich Common.
7661. Read on, please.
(Mr Jones) Although Greenwich is one of the
safest boroughs in London the fear of crime is higher than the
recorded crime figures suggest. Many crimes remain unreported,
especially in Neighbourhood Renewal areas, including Greater Woolwich.
In terms of economic structure the service sector is more prevalent
than manufacturing, although there is a lower representation of
financial and business services compared to Greenwich and London
rates and higher representations of retail and public administration.
7662. Slide 5, please.[35]
(Mr Jones) Slide 5 illustrates
the nature of the occupiers across the town centre today. Another
key issue influencing the socio-economic character of the area
is the high representation of social housing around the town centre.
7663. Slide 6, please.[36]
(Mr Jones) And the currently rather
limited prevalence of private sector housing. This issue—the
lack of a truly mixed and balanced local population profile—is
a serious challenge for creating sustainable communities into
the future.
7664. Pause at slide 6. We can see typical high-rise
1960s public sector accommodation. Are those normal for the area
or are they in any way exceptional?
(Mr Jones) These are typical of the former
public housing sector estates in that area that we have shown
on slide 4.
7665. Read on, please.
(Mr Jones) Overall, Woolwich is characterised
by socio-economic disadvantage, deprivation and inequality of
opportunity, as illustrated by its ranking on the 2004 Index of
Deprivation.
7666. Slide 7, please.[37]
(Mr Jones) Unemployment rates
are high, economic activity low and there are specified problems
with a low skills base and poor health.
7667. If you would like to pause on slide 7
because that has some particular importance. In broad terms as
one moves from darker colours to lighter colours, what does that
mean?
(Mr Jones) The darker colours represent those
areas that are more deprived, the darkest brown representing those
areas that are within the top 10 per cent of most deprived areas
in England and Wales. The lighter colours represent the areas
of less deprivation.
7668. So, for example, the predominant colour
within the one kilometre circle of the station is what?
(Mr Jones) The predominant colour in the one
kilometre zone would be the darkest brown, which are the wards
with ten per cent of the most deprived in England and Wales.
7669. If you would return to paragraph 5.5 of
your proof, please.
(Mr Jones) The holistic and comprehensive regeneration
of the town centre has been difficult to achieve in the past and
remains so due to the combination of physical, social and economic
barriers that are prevalent throughout the area. This is reflected
by the local property market analysis that has fed into our research
as illustrated by my colleague, Mr Lambert. In Woolwich regeneration
work has been underway for many years and, whilst certain site-specific
proposals are beginning to come forward, such as the development
of the Royal Arsenal, this and others are important projects in
isolation. In my view, continuation of this approach would see
the creation of an environment characterised by disparate and
unconnected inward-focused residential developments, that would
not provide the range of services and facilities, nor lead to
the improvement of the physical environment at the heart of the
town required to create that very platform for private sector
investment, nor build the momentum to deliver evolved and comprehensive
future regeneration for Woolwich town centre as a whole. Indeed,
it is the town centre which should act as the focus of the Woolwich
community providing essential facilities as well as the cultural
and civic centre of the community. Without catalytic investment
providing impetus and co-ordination regeneration into the town
centre, the transformation of Woolwich into an area made up of
vibrant, mixed and sustainable communities would be severely hindered.
There is a rapidly growing body of empirical evidence in the UK,
in Europe and the US relating to the various impacts that transport
schemes can have on property, development, the environment and
regeneration. Transport infrastructure not only facilitates the
movement of people and goods but, through the added accessibility
the roads and stations offer, also has a wide ranging impact on
land use, economic growth and the quality of life influencing
wider city competitiveness. Such impacts not only include various
environmental components, for instance through lower car dependency
and lower emissions, but also a variety of indirect impacts, such
as place-making and enhancing the character of an area that can
help to attract new residents, visitors, investment and jobs,
thus contributing to regeneration. Thus investment in transport
infrastructure is often an essential component in successful regeneration.
Furthermore, it is often a prerequisite to change, with early
transport investment providing a catalyst to investment by others.
As I have already demonstrated, the ongoing renaissance of Woolwich
town centre is a key objective in the Thames Gateway for London
and for the London Borough of Greenwich. The town centre has struggled
to maintain its vitality and viability in the face of increasing
threats and lower levels of private sector investment in comparable
centres across the sub-region. These difficulties should be seen
in the context of the potential of the town centre which is considerable,
especially considering the focus that has been placed on economic
and population growth throughout the Thames Gateway and the significant
changes that are anticipated across sub-region into the future.
Furthermore, with an appropriate series of initiatives and actions
initiated locally together with the support of catalytic investment,
including the Crossrail station, this potential is very capable
of delivery. The London Borough of Greenwich has already made
a number of decisions and they are committed to bring forward
regeneration, of particular note to the preparation of the Woolwich
town centre development framework in 2004. A Crossrail station
in Woolwich town centre would also play a key role in maximising
the contribution that Woolwich could play in addressing local
socio-economic inequality and disadvantage, which I have already
described. As a major town centre, the town is also well placed
to be a sustainable focus for the step change that is envisaged
in economic and population growth across the Thames Gateway not
only by stimulating activity within the town centre itself but
also enhancing accessibility to new opportunities, in particular
employment, health and education. In short, Woolwich would become
a better connected place able to contribute fully to the economy
and wider London community. The location of Crossrail station
at Woolwich would also play a vital wider role in transforming
portions of the area to create a high quality vibrant new gateway
to southeast London. It is clearly recognised that town centres
are vital in achieving the wider objectives to deliver economic
and social regeneration. This is recognised in planning and wider
government policy, and should Crossrail proceed without a station
at Woolwich, which is a prominent location in London, the quality
and quantity of employment of mixed use development envisaged
is unlikely to be maximised and the opportunity to provide new
and existing communities by the strategic location may be lost.
A Crossrail station would provide the commercial basis for the
ongoing renaissance of the town centre. Without vital infrastructure
works, it is extremely doubtful that the step change that is needed
could be achieved. Though regeneration would still be expected,
Woolwich would remain an outer location with lower intensity private
sector investment and development activity. In this scenario,
it would not maximise the socio-economic benefits that could be
achieved for the benefit of the surrounding residential communities
and the wider economic prospects of southeast London and the region.
Our detailed analysis work has considered the development capacity
and property market activity that would be anticipated to occur
around Woolwich either with or without a Crossrail station. This
work has been supported by focus master planning in the areas,
directly around the location of the potential Crossrail station,
to illustrate and to quantify the potential scope and scale of
activity that would be anticipated under both scenarios. Two alternative
masterplans were prepared to consider the scope and scale of the
development activity both with Crossrail and without Crossrail.
7670. Just pause there for a minute. First of
all you have a master plan with Crossrail, if I can give you a
chance to have a breather for a minute.[38]
7671. Chairman: And us all!
7672. Mr Jones: We can see the dual carriageway,
mentioned previously, running across the top of the plan and the
Royal Arsenal development, a little bit of it, immediately above
it and we can see to the east, that is the right of the Arsenal
development, the end of the station box. Then at the bottom left-hand
side of the plan we can see the Woolwich Arsenal station, the
mainline station for Woolwich, and the DLR station immediately
above it?
(Mr Jones) Indeed.
7673. Right very helpful. There, for example,
are the DLR station, the Woolwich Arsenal station, Plumstead Road
dual carriageway, the Royal Arsenal development and the station
box proposed Woolwich station would be something like that, would
it not? That is the `with Crossrail'; what essentially do you
wish to illustrate on that? Maybe more useful if you have got
the torch so I am now handing it back to you; a laser, apparently
it is not a torch. If you could illustrate what you would anticipate
in this illustrative drawing would occur with Crossrail in the
vicinity of the Crossrail station.
(Mr Jones) Indeed, as has been pointed out
already, this is the area of the Crossrail station box, the area
pointing here is the northern entrance to the station and the
area here is the southern entrance to the station (indicating).
These provide an essential link underground from the station to
the town centre, but, as part of the initiative to connect the
town centre more properly with its waterfront through the Royal
Arsenal, the proposals would also incorporate a major new crossing
of the A205 and reduce the severance impact of this major highway
effectively with a super-crossing which would prioritise pedestrians
and cyclists in the area I am showing now. This would have the
effect of connecting the Woolwich Arsenal development, which is
to the north, with the town centre, the national rail station
here and the bus interchange services further to the south. They
are effectively the connection elements of the development proposals,
but the stimulus of Crossrail station arriving would enable the
comprehensive regeneration of a large proportion of this area.
The areas that are coloured, that I am broadly showing now, would
be the subject of a major redevelopment project including replacements
of the covered market, which you can see in a mottled blue, be
it at the lower levels of the development with predominantly residential
development community uses around that and also office uses for
new employment in the town centre.
7674. Can you just explain the colouring? You
have got some light brown, darker brown in the shade and some
blue colouring, what does that mean?
(Mr Jones) This plan is for more a development
plan rather than particularly a land use plan. However, the areas
that are in blue and orange would illustrate both here and here
would illustrate new development (indicating) and the areas in
yellow are the re-use and regeneration of existing buildings,
all those that would be related to the masterplan associated with
Crossrail.
7675. Moving to the next thing, I think it is
important to deal with the shadows; what do they illustrate?
(Mr Jones) They illustrate the heightened development
where we are looking at a block development with streets at the
ground level but then also particular points where the density
development would rise some stories into the sky. That would be
up to 16 stories in some cases, a slightly higher development
at particular landmark points.
7676. Can we now move to the next slide; what
has happened to the shadows in that?[39]
(Mr Jones) The shadows have reduced
because the density development in some of the landmark towers
and development would reduce.
7677. And the extent of the light yellow colouring
on that is obviously much greater than the previous slide. What
does that illustrate?
(Mr Jones) Indeed, the light yellow colouring,
both where I am showing now and also the south part of the site,
illustrates buildings that would not be redeveloped as part of
the `without Crossrail' master plan. There are also a number of
isolated buildings that would be unlikely to be developed under
this scenario as well which predominantly, because of the lower
anticipated development densities and indeed the market interest
in developing this area together with the physical limitations
that retain the buildings would have in building new blocks around
them would reduce the potential for higher density development
and maximising develop densities in this area.
7678. Unless there is anything you want to deal
with on those two diagrams, can we return to paragraph 6.11 to
your proof, please?
(Mr Jones) If I could just draw one additional
point out of that. I talked earlier about the railway station
entrances which were broadly at the north of the diagram and where
I am showing now just at the south of the main road, they clearly
are not there in the without Crossrail scenario, without the level
of interaction and scale of development in this area we anticipate
that the scale of change and breaking down the barriers of the
main road together with connecting to the riverside, those opportunities
would be limited in this scenario, so we have a far reduced scale
of crossing of public rail intervention in this area.
7679. 6.11, please?
(Mr Jones) The outcome of our design and passage
analysis has revealed the following facts in terms of population.
The impacts of a Crossrail station in the town centre would create
the conditions to deliver an estimated 4,350 new residential units
over and above what would be expected to come forward in the absence
of a station, a substantial proportion of which would be affordable.
35 Committee Ref: A84, Woolwich-The Town Centre Today
(GRCHLB-3605-046). Back
36
Committee Ref: A84, Woolwich- Surrounding Communities (GRCHLB-3605-047). Back
37
Committee Ref: A84, Index of Multiple Deprivation (GRCHLB-3605-048
). Back
38
Committee Ref: A84, Woolwich-With Crossrail: Masterplan (GRCHLB-3605-049). Back
39
Committee Ref: A84, Woolwich-Without Crossrail: Masterplan (GRCHLB-3605-050). Back
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