Examination of Witnesses (Questions 8460
- 8479)
8460. Slide 14.[62]
(Mr Donovan) This is in a sense
a detailed slide just showing North Bexley so there is nothing
in there of contention, but obviously it will help if anybody
needs to pick up on any detail. What it is showing there in the
purple—again a little bit unknown to history—is that
history has a lot of employment and those are employment areas
that we are safeguarding and keeping and are filling up; they
are not areas that are sitting there fallow and undeveloped, and
particularly the Belvedere and employment area which is right
in the heart of the slide in the middle there, on the river, is,
as I said earlier, one of the larges concentrations of employment
in the whole of the Thames Gateway, but access to it is still
very much dependent at the moment on the car.
8461. You note in the box at the top of the
page that there are in excess of 100 hectares of brownfield sites
for development.
(Mr Donovan) Yes, and that gives enormous potential
for anything up to 15,000 jobs and 7,000 jobs. Another thing I
would like to emphasise is quality; that, yes, you can get development
but the point about Thames Gateway is that it traditionally has
been developed to some degree but the role that it has played
has tended to be, if you like, the sink end of London—it
has provided the power stations, it has provided the waste treatment
plants. We will obviously still have an element of that but we
need to improve the quality and again quality public transport
is a critical element of that.
8462. The next slide number 15.[63]
(Mr Donovan) Number 15 does a
similar thing on the Kent side, in that this is the development
framework for Kent Thameside, showing—I think everybody
knows very well—that in the large development programme
for northwest Kent that we already have major shopping facilities
at Bluewater and we have a major business park at Crossways right
up by the river. There is the proposal there in brown right in
the middle for Eastern Quarry, which is going to be an absolutely
huge development of housing. Then at the far end of that, to the
right, is the Ebbsfleet International Station and all the development
around that, and that Ebbsfleet link to the Royal Docks has always
been seen in regeneration terms as, in a sense, the two really
major drivers of change in Thames Gateway, and the great attraction
of Crossrail, the enthusiasm was that it linked those two things
together in a very important way.
8463. Can I ask you about the last bullet point
on the page: Ebbsfleet 20,000 jobs and 6,000 homes significantly
dependent on improved public transport links from South East London?
(Mr Donovan) Yes, I think the argument there
would be that in order to ensure that the particular jobs are
filled then you would need actually to bring people out from South
East London to fill them and it is all about that sort of swapping
and moving around and again, as I said earlier, if the public
transport links are not there there will be an awful lot of people
coming along the A2—people will still make that movement
and a lot of it will be car—and obviously all the links
getting to the main trunk road through South East London will
be quite enormous. Thames Gateway has always been seen as about
putting together employment and housing opportunities but not
trying to pretend that everybody will live and work within a mile
of each other, and that is why it is so important that all the
different parts are linked together.
8464. If you do not get Crossrail to Ebbsfleet
are there any other significant improvements planned to public
transport linking Ebbsfleet and South East London?
(Mr Donovan) Not in public transport, not directly,
no.
8465. Turning to a number of policies, the local
transport plan for Kent, again if we can take these relatively
briefly.[64]
The main point you wish to draw to the attention of the Committee
on that?
(Mr Donovan) I think the one that
is highlighted there, really, that North West Kent is seen as
absolutely critical. The Thames Gateway, picking up as seen as
one of the growth areas, and that this is absolutely fundamental
and that the growth will generate significant new demand for the
movement of people and goods which must be met in sustainable
ways, which is really reinforcing what I have been saying.
8466. You then produce an extract from the London
Plan, which indicates support for Crossrail Line 1.[65]
At the time the London Plan was published could we look at slide
18, shown as being Crossrail Line 1?[66]
(Mr Donovan) Crossrail Line 1
is indeed the route that we are talking about right through South
East London and out to Ebbsfleet. So the comment on slide 17 was
in the light of that and that is what the London Plan was emphasising
its support for.
8467. Can we go on to 19 and 20, one from the
London Development Agency and 20 going back to the London Plan?[67]
(Mr Donovan) London Development
Agency is reinforcing the point that the transport and the economy
all link in together so the London Development Agency makes the
point that the economic, social and environmental case for investment
in London's transport, communications and other infrastructure
is essential, and to ensure the delivery of projects critical
to support London's growth of which they refer, amongst others,
to Crossrail.
8468. If you go to slide 21, opportunity areas,
what is the significance of this?[68]
(Mr Donovan) The way that the
Mayor has actually approached his London Plan is to actually look
at the areas where there are significant opportunities for growth,
and one of those is clearly Thames Gateway and he shows where
those opportunities are, and it is absolutely essential that the
ability to deliver employment and housing in those opportunity
areas is met, and again underpinning that is the need to make
sure that we have good links into them.
8469. If one looks at slide 22 we can see indicative
estimates of growth, in particular in opportunity areas, and you
have highlighted Belvedere/Erith and Thamesmead, and you have
also highlighted at the bottom that improvements in accessibility
through Crossrail 1 and the Thames Gateway Bridge will support
regeneration and intensification.[69]
As far as Belvedere/Erith is concerned, will that opportunity
arise if Crossrail does not serve Belvedere Station, and Erith?
(Mr Donovan) I think the way I
would answer that is there will obviously be some regeneration,
there will obviously be new jobs in that area and it would be
a little odd to suggest otherwise, but that the major opportunity,
the opportunity that really drives the regeneration of that area
and, as I have said there, to get significant intensification,
is very much dependent on things like Crossrail actually coming
through. I think that is one point, the intensification, and the
other one is quality. We are looking also to change the role of
the function of Thames Gateway and we want to have a range of
jobs and the middle type of jobs, the quality jobs are always
going to be under threat if we do not have things like good public
transport there, and I think public transport accessibility, as
I showed you earlier, is very poor in Bexley in relative terms
and Crossrail was therefore seen as a major opportunity to change
that.
8470. Slide 23.[70]
(Mr Donovan) Is in a sense picking
up the regional position in Kent. The development of the economy
in Thames Gateway will be dynamic and widely based and the roles
of the main economic locations will be promoted and developed
as follows: Ebbsfleet will be developed as a major office centre
of more than 20,000 jobs linking directly to central London and
other European capitals, drawing its workforce from Thameside
and beyond, and the critical point there is reinforcing the point
that we need to look across the whole of Thames Gateway as the
potential to bring people in, and Crossrail really reinforces
the linkage of Ebbsfleet into the rest of Thames Gateway—west
of it.
8471. You then produce some extracts from Bexley
policies and perhaps you would like to highlight the points to
be derived from those slides?[71]
(Mr Donovan) These are from what
are called our "G Policies"—and I will not bore
you with the detail of that—and this is the Part 1 Strategic
Policies within the Bexley Unitary Development Plan. We support
the Thames Gateway initiative; we promote more sustainable transport
choices; we are encouraging people to use public transport; and
as a result of that we then go on, in Policy G22, to outline some
of the specific things we are supporting, including Crossrail,
which, at the time of writing this, which was at some time ago
now, obviously we were picking up the reference to it as the Thames
Gateway Metro proposal. And it was that fast Metro-like, Underground-like
proposal that is of course so attractive, getting people through
the thing quickly. And the linkage to Ebbsfleet and Stratford,
as I said earlier, about making sure that places like Bexley are
linked in to those really major growth generators in Thames Gateway.
8472. 25 is Bexley's reaction to the announcement
that Crossrail trains would terminate at Abbey Wood.[72]
(Mr Donovan) It is in our latest
regeneration framework that we have recently published, working
through with the government on that. We reinforce the point that
it still seems a critical part of our regeneration and that we
will continue to lobby strongly for the development of Crossrail
through the borough and on through to Ebbsfleet.
8473. What you are here for today.
(Mr Donovan) Yes, doing my best.
8474. Slide 26.[73]
You said earlier that Bexley has a number of employment areas,
particularly in the North Bexley wards.
(Mr Donovan) Yes.
8475. At 7.9 you identify those particular areas.
(Mr Donovan) Yes, those are the primary employment
areas listed; originally a number of them were major manufacturing
areas and we are still seeking to retain that, but we are actually
widening the base of them as well. You will see from that that
all but one, Foots Cray, which is right down in the south of the
borough, are all right in our regeneration heartland along Bexley
Thameside.
8476. 27, back to economic development strategy.[74]
You refer to significant congestion on the South Thames development
route and your side note explains what the South Thames development
route is, the main strategic road link through North Bexley. A
solution to those problems is identified at the bottom of the
page, which is to campaign for major public transport improvements
to and within the employment areas?
(Mr Donovan) Yes, that is correct.
8477. Then slide 28.[75]
(Mr Donovan) This is picking up
on our recent work on regeneration and the overall strategy and
the importance there, the potential for homes and more jobs and
that new jobs will be created through the densification—that
is a horrendous word and I apologise for that—of underused
employment sites. In other words, we need to be making more use
of our employment sites and really making sure that we have the
accessibility, which is one of the critical elements that is improved.
8478. That was a specific reference to Erith,
and if we turn over the page you are dealing there with Belvedere
and with Erith.[76]
(Mr Donovan) Yes, that is right.
That is picking up the point there in relation to the Belvedere
and Erith employment area and also including therein reference
to the little bullet point with the circle, major public transport
proposals, pressing for a Crossrail station. The reason that that
refers to Belvedere is because this was a framework that is only
looking at part of North Bexley but also the Bexley Transit Link
which is trying to look for a supported bus link to the rail proposals
so that you actually get an integrated public transport system,
which, I think it would be fair to say, we really do not have
in Bexley at the moment.
8479. You go on in the following slides to explain
where the opportunities lie and initiatives that have already
been taken in Belvedere and Erith, is that right?[77]
(Mr Donovan) Yes. This is going
back a little bit to the single regeneration budget which was
absolutely critical to Bexley because it was the major regeneration
programme that meant that you could get access to it wherever
you were, so we worked quite hard to put together programmes which
we have now taken forward into all sorts of other ways, and that
is an aerial view there showing the extent of the Belvedere employment
area.
62 Committee Ref: A90, Woolwich/Belvedere/Erith Zone
of Change (BEXYLB-32005C-014). Back
63
Committee Ref: A90,: Thameside Zone of Change (BEXYLB-32005C-015). Back
64
Committee Ref: A90, Regional Policy Kent Thameside (BEXYLB-32005C-016). Back
65
Committee Ref: A90, Regional Policy: Crossrail (BEXYLB-32005C-017). Back
66
Committee Ref: A90, London Plan 2004, Proposed major rail transport
schemes and development opportunities in London (BEXYLB-32005C-018). Back
67
Committee Ref: A90, Regional Policy-Crossrail (BEXYLB-32005C-019
and -020). Back
68
Committee Ref: A90, London Plan February 2004 (BEXYLB-32005C-021). Back
69
Committee Ref: A90, Opportunity Areas (BEXYLB-32005C-022). Back
70
Committee Ref: A90, Regional Policy Kent Thameside Economic Growth
& Development (BEXYLB-32005C-023). Back
71
Committee Ref: A90, Local Policy: Thames Gateway and Crossrail
Policies G10 & G17 & G22 (BEXYLB-32005C-024). Back
72
Committee Ref: A90, Local Policy: Framework for Bexley 2005 (BEXYLB-32005C-025). Back
73
Committee Ref: A90, Local Policy: Thames Gateway and Crossrail
Policy G14 (BEXYLB-32005C-026). Back
74
Committee Ref: A90, Development Opportunities-Better Transport
Infrastructure (BEXYLB-32005C-027). Back
75
Committee Ref: A90, Development Opportunities-Homes: Erith (BEXYLB-32005C-028). Back
76
Committee Ref: A90, Development Opportunities-Homes: Belvedere
and Erith (BEXYLB-32005C-029). Back
77
Committee Ref: A90, Existing Regeneration Initiatives-Belvedere
Employment Area (BEXYLB-32005C-030). Back
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