§ 3.7 p.m.
§ Lord RodneyMy Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.
§ The Question was as follows:
§ To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made by the London Docklands Development Corporation since its establishment in 1981.
§ The Minister of State, Department of the Environment (Lord Elton)My Lords, since July 1981 delay and decay in Docklands have been replaced by enterprise and action. Up to November 1985 more than £1 billion of committed private sector investment and more than 200 new companies had been attracted there; 4,700 new permanent jobs were created and 1,300 existing jobs were preserved; 2,700 private homes were built, of which 42 per cent. were bought by residents of the dockland boroughs; and more than £10 million was spent by the corporation on direct community support.
§ Lord RodneyMy Lords, I should like to thank my noble friend for that very encouraging reply. Will he agree that it is an instance of a very considerable success of the policy? What is the situation as regards the proposed STOL airport for short take-off and landing aircraft? Can he say whether that is going to go ahead and when the first flights may possibly start?
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for the reception of the Answer which I have just given him. Following a public inquiry into the STOLport proposal the Secretary of State gave outline planning permission on 23rd May last year. The corporation is now considering detailed planning applications and has asked the London borough of Newham for its comments. The private company Mowlem plan to complete the construction of STOLport by mid-1987.
§ Lord MellishMy Lords, the Minister will be aware that perhaps the most satisfactory aspect of the redevelopment of the Docklands is what I call the leverage argument—that is to say, for every £1 million of Government money that has been invested, private enterprise has spent up to £14 million of its money. This goes to show that if Government money is spent 1272 in the right way there can be tremendous results. On the housing front, will the noble Lord emphasise and will his honourable friend take note of the fact that the vast majority of houses built by London Docklands have been built for ordinary people at below the price range of £40,000? They have been queueing up all night to buy and this is a tremendous success story.
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for his intervention. My answer is implicit in his question.
§ Lord Boyd-CarpenterMy Lords, is my noble friend happy, as I am sure he is, to confirm the very considerable public service performed by the noble Lord, Lord Mellish, in this context, and also by Sir Nigel Broackes?
§ Lord EltonIndeed, I am, my Lords, and I am glad of the opportunity of so doing.
§ Lord SomersMy Lords, may ask what is the position as regards the Docklands railway? Is that still in hand—
§ Lord MellishI can answer that, my Lords.
§ Lord EltonI am sorry, my Lords, but an aside from someone sitting near me obliterated the key word of the noble Lord's question.
§ Lord SomersMy Lords, I was asking what the position is as regards the Docklands railway. Is that still in hand?
§ Lord MellishYes it is, my Lords.
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, it seems I am superfluous in these exchanges. The railway at present under construction is being financed by the Government through London Regional Transport and LDDC at a capital cost of £77 million. I think that puts it well in hand.
§ Lord MellishMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that the railway is going ahead splendidly and is ahead of schedule?
§ Lord EltonThank you for the ride, my Lords.
§ Lord GlenamaraMy Lords, is the noble Lord aware that London is not the only place with decaying docklands. We have many decaying docklands on Tyneside and would welcome more Government resources there.
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, although the LDDC was started as an experiment, there is, I agree absolutely, a lot we can learn from it.
§ Viscount MerseyMy Lords, can my noble friend tell us where the London Docklands Light Railway is to end? Is it to be at the Minories or the Bank? Will my noble friend also comment on the proposed Canary Wharf development scheme?
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, on the first question I would not like to tell the noble Viscount where it is to end because I am not certain but I will write to him. As to the Canary Wharf scheme, this is an imaginative scheme using the enterprise zone system which makes the planning system very much easier. It is intended that, if it goes ahead, it will create a very large number of extra jobs. I do not think I can add to what I have said.
§ Lord Dean of BeswickMy Lords, I am extremely grateful to the Minister for his reference to the Canary Wharf scheme. However, it has been reported that the Corporation of the City of London has opposed the railway link between Canary Wharf and Bank tube station, which of course is vital to the scheme. Can the noble Lord say what other petition, if any, has been received, as I understand that the closing date is today, and whether the Government think the issue between the Corporation of the City of London and the developers can be resolved?
Finally, as regards the increased employment it is calculated that 40,000 jobs may well be created. Can the Minister tell us whether a large number of these jobs will be for unskilled and semi-skilled labour, which would, of course, go a great way towards relieving the high unemployment in that area?
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, the number of jobs expected to be provided by the scheme is 45,000 of which 36,000 will, it is anticipated, be new jobs. I am not clear as to the amount of unskilled labour that is involved in banking but I would not have thought it was a very high component part of the banking profession. The project is subject to planning permission under the EZ scheme, as I said, and the Secretary of State has no powers to call it in for his own decision. He has said that it would not be right for him to intervene since the EZ registration exists to enable regeneration to take place and should not be overridden because of the size of a particular scheme. The noble Lord's interest extends, I think, beyond the area of the EZ and my right honourable friend will, of course, be looking at any matters properly put to him which fall outside that area.
§ Lord Sefton of GarstonMy Lords, are the Government prepared to carry out an inquiry to see what adverse effects the development of the Canary site may have on the rest of the South-East?
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, I think I have already replied concerning the planning processes and what the noble Lord asks about is part of those.
§ Lord Sefton of GarstonMy Lords, does it involve that kind of thing?
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, if the noble Lord asks whether the matter is under control I can say that it is under the control of the enterprise zone system.
§ Lord Sefton of GarstonMy Lords, I asked whether the Government would be prepared to carry out an inquiry into the possible adverse effects the development of this site would have even on some parts of the South-East.
§ Lord EltonMy Lords, we do not think there will be an adverse effect on the South-East region arising from the development of Canary Wharf. We think the effects will be beneficial.