Examination of Witnesses (Questions 21160
- 21166)
21160. I am pleased today to inform the House
of important developments that point a way forward.
21161. The key to this has been Greenwich Council's
recent proposal for a major revision to its spatial plan to allow
a significantly higher density of development at Woolwich. This,
in turn, has prompted Berkeley Homes to offer a means of enabling
a station to be built at Woolwich but, crucially, without adding
to the current cost of Crossrail.
21162. In the light of this, agreement has been
reached in principle with Berkeley Homes under which they will
build the basic box structure of a station at Woolwich and then
construct their own development overhead. This will all be done
at their own risk using their own money to the specification laid
down by CLRL with a payment back to Berkeley Homes of the savings
CLRL will make through avoiding other works at Woolwich when it
constructs the line there.
21163. In due course, Berkeley Homes would then
arrange for the completion of the station box to full operational
status. Both they and Greenwich Council recognise that the completion
of the station would be conditional on receiving sufficient funding
contributions from those developers and businesses that stand
to benefit from a Crossrail station at Woolwich. The contributions
would be in addition to any London-wide Crossrail funding arrangements
that may be agreed and no additional public sector debt capacity
would be made available. Fit-out of the station could take place
only once sufficient private sector contributions had been received.
21164. More work needs to be done to flesh out
this deal but the House can now have sufficient confidence that
Berkeley and Greenwich Council have the commitment and the right
incentives to do that. This is a very significant change from
the position last October as there is now a clear way forward
that can deliver a station at Woolwich without adding to the costs
which Crossrail has already identified.
21165. On this basis I am now able to bring
forward an amendment to the Bill to provide powers for the station.
In due course, the House will be invited to agree a further instruction
to the Committee in respect of Woolwich". That concludes
the Secretary of State's statement.
21166. Chairman: Thank you very much,
Mr Elvin. Clearly, it is good news. For the record, I would like
to thank the Secretary of State for considering the special report
of Woolwich and for finding the way forward. He is clearly a man
of great vision. We look forward to seeing the amendments in more
detail. The Committee will reconvene on these matters later in
the year to ensure that in the meantime all of those who are affected
by the new amendments have the opportunity to come to the Committee
and set out their concerns. We want to make certain that a new
station at Woolwich will be of benefit to the local community
so I would like to stress that all those who wish to petition
against the new amendments will have their chance to do so. The
Committee will now stand adjourned until Wednesday 28 March at
10am.
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