HL Deb 26 November 2002 vol 641 cc633-5

3.1 p.m.

Baroness Seccombe

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What is the future of the Dome.

The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)

My Lords, a 26,000-seat capacity arena for London is to be built inside the Dome with associated leisure, retail, exhibition and other facilities. Contracts were signed between English Partnerships and Meridian Delta Limited on 29th May this year for the sale of the Dome and the development of much of the Greenwich peninsula for residential, commercial and other community uses. The deal is conditional primarily on planning permission. Meridian Delta Limited is preparing to submit a planning application before Christmas.

Baroness Seccombe

My Lords, we are within five weeks of two years of the closure of the Dome. Therefore, I am grateful to the Minister for giving us the latest information on this long, sorry tale. But between July 2001 and July 2002, English Partnerships incurred costs of £21.4 million in the upkeep of the Dome. What have been the costs to public funds since July 2002?

Lord Rooker

My Lords, I am not in a position to give any detail on that.

Noble Lords

Oh!

Lord Rooker

My Lords, we are talking about July this year. The £21 million consisted of management, care and maintenance costs for the year. It also consisted of one-off costs, such as decommissioning the contents of the Dome and costs connected with the sale process. It included nearly £7 million associated with previous competitions to find a long-term use for the Dome. The average monthly care and maintenance costs are around £250,000. Therefore, I imagine that the cost of upkeep has been approximately £250,000 a month since the end of July because all the other costs were one-off costs.

Lord Campbell of Croy

My Lords, might not an immediate use for the Dome be staging the Miss World competition and pageant, which has had to move to London at very short notice from Nigeria? That might also bring glamour to the Greenwich peninsula, about whose future the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, has been so concerned.

Lord Rooker

My Lords, I can say that much glamour is on, and will be brought to, the Greenwich peninsula without the Miss World contest. A variety of short-term uses are always being sought by English Partnerships. The Dome was used on New Year's Eve in 2001 and another event is planned for this New Year's Eve. Of course, a couple of smaller operations have also taken place in the Dome on a temporary basis, but that is a matter for English Partnerships.

The Lord Bishop of Southwark

My Lords., does the Minister feel that it would be wise for me to try to book the planned auditorium for the centenary of the diocese of Southwark in July 2005, or might that be taking a risk?

Lord Rooker

My Lords, as I said, the planning application for the arena inside the Dome is due to be submitted before the end of the year. I understand that it is planned that the arena should be constructed inside the Dome and opened during 2005.

Lord Avebury

My Lords, was not an undertaking given by English Partnerships to provide 3,500 low-cost dwellings as part of the development of the peninsula? Can the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, say whether that is still the case and over what period those dwellings are to be provided?

Lord Rooker

My Lords, I have already stated that a planning application is due to go to the Greenwich local authority before the end of the year. Therefore, I cannot comment in detail on that matter. The application has not yet been submitted or published and I am not privy to it because I am not the planning Minister for the Dome. However, for some time the developers have been taking a road-show around Greenwich for the residents of the area. There are plans for approximately 9,000 to 10,000 homes, 3.5 million square feet of commercial property, a Four or five-star hotel, a secondary school, open space and parkland, and 20,000 permanent jobs. Of course, negotiations and discussions will take place as to how many of the homes are affordable in the sense that we understand that term.

Baroness Hanham

My Lords, in view of the action taken by the Attorney-General of New York state, will the Minister say whether the Government are still satisfied as to the financial standing and probity of Anschutz Entertainment?

Lord Rooker

My Lords, English Partnerships deal with Meridian Delta Limited. It will sub-contract the operation of the Dome to Anschutz Entertainment Group. Therefore, the contract is with Meridian Delta. The full amount of due diligence has been applied to this transaction, as is normal and necessary. The contractual relationship with Anschutz Entertainment Group is unaffected by anything that happens in the United States.

Earl Ferrers

My Lords, can the Minister say whether, when the arena is built, the Government's involvement with the Dome and its related costs will come to an end?

Lord Rooker

My Lords, as I said, the application will be submitted before Christmas but it will be up to the planning authority to decide when permission is granted. At the point at which planning permission is granted, other aspects of the contractual arrangements will come into play; in other words, ownership of the site will transfer to the new developers. The long-term feedback to the Government was made clear by my noble and learned friend Lord Falconer during his Statement on 29th May concerning the transfer of government responsibilities. I believe that in the long term it is planned that that feedback will be approximately £500 million over a period of 20 years—that is, £240 million at present net value.

Lord Wallace of Saltaire

My Lords, in view of the complexity of developing such major sites in London, can the Minister promise that completion of the comprehensive redevelopment of the Dome will proceed at least as rapidly as the comprehensive redevelopment of the site at Battersea power station?

Lord Rooker

My Lords, we shall use our best endeavours. This is a major project in a major part of London. It is intended to provide jobs for thousands of people and homes for thousands more as the beginning of the Thames Gateway. It will be a private sector development, assuming that everything goes ahead as planned. Ministers will give it all the support that they can during that period, and we hope that it will be very successful.