HC Deb 28 March 1995 vol 257 cc819-20
11. Mr. Austin-Walker

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans he has to visit Woolwich to discuss the future of the royal arsenal site. [14636]

Mr. Soames

My right hon. and learned Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has no such plans, although my noble Friend the Under-Secretary of State for Defence visited the royal arsenal site on 1 November last year.

Mr. Austin-Walker

I am sure that the Minister agrees that that site, containing 75 acres of derelict industrial land, is probably one of the largest such areas in a town centre in the United Kingdom and that its development is crucial not only to the regeneration of the locality but to the Thames gateway strategy. What progress has there been on the redevelopment, and does his Department now accept responsibility for the restoration of the 15 listed buildings on the site? What liability does the Department accept for land contamination in the area?

Mr. Soames

I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman; as a constituency Member, he has rightly taken a close interest in the matter. As he knows, there are two sites at Woolwich, the east and the west. The west site covers the considerable area of 76 acres, and negotiations have commenced to transfer it to English Partnerships. I hope that they will be completed shortly, and that a development plan can be finalised in consultation with the borough of Greenwich. The smaller east site does not contain listed buildings, but it is possible that the ground is contaminated. The site will be sold on the open market, and a detailed investigation of the contamination has been commissioned.

I assure the hon. Gentleman that the Ministry of Defence accepts liability for site and building contamination where that is significant and has to be remedied up to the standard required by the development plan. We shall agree funding with English Partnerships, and I am happy to assure the hon. Gentleman with regard to the listed buildings.

Mr. Devlin

Would not this site have been entirely redeveloped by now if the quality assurance unit at Woolwich had not so tenaciously resisted being relocated to the Preston Farm industrial estate in Stockton-on-Tees? Since the facility was disbanded by the Ministry of Defence, has not the site in Stockton-on-Tees been extensively redeveloped by Teesside development corporation, bringing more jobs than if the quality assurance unit had gone there in the first place?

Mr. Soames

I was not aware of that particular background, but, as my hon. Friend knows, an ugly queue is forming to stampede Stockton-on-Tees. Many people wish to relocate in such an excellent place, with such an admirable Member of Parliament.