Woolwich Arsenal (Committee's Recommendations) (Hansard, 15 July 1960)

§ Mr. Soames

In 1954, following the Report of an inter-departmental committee set up by the Minister of Supply, a new plan for the Woolwich Arsenal area was put into operation.

The Gun and Ammunition Factories were amalgamated into a single Royal Ordnance Factory; the Filling Factory was to be dismantled, and its site decontaminated and cleared; 100 acres on the south side of the Arsenal were sold to the London County Council for gradual development as an industrial estate for firms moving from other accommodation in the London area; and the remainder of the central part of the site was made available to the Service Departments and the Ministry of Supply for workshops, stores and similar facilities, for which there was at that time an unsatisfied demand.

The low-lying marshland at the eastern end of the site was still needed for the storage and transit of explosives, but it was gradually to be raised above river level by means of controlled tipping, with a view to eventual more valuable uses.

By 1959, it had become apparent that, although the reorganisation and concentration of the Royal Ordnance Factory was making good progress, more intensive use of the central area by the Service Departments was no longer likely. In addition the area of the old Filling Factory and the marshland area of the eastern end, which had by then been freed from the storage and transit of explosives, were becoming available for new uses. A further review of the site and its future uses was therefore necessary.

Accordingly the Minister of Supply set up a new Inter-departmental Committee, under the chairmanship of Sir Lewis Hutchinson, to review the progress of the 1954 plan and to investigate further the problem of re-developing the Woolwich Arsenal area in the best public interest. The Royal Ordnance Factory, Woolwich, which occupies part of the western end of the area, was outside the Committee's field of review except for some detached elements else-where on the site.

The Committee's Report is based on evidence from a very wide variety of 151W interests and makes the following main recommendations:

(a) employment on the Arsenal site should form part of the employment plan for London generally; against this background it would not be justifiable to attempt to restore the high level of industrial employment on the site which at one time obtained;
(b) the western end of the site (where there is a closely built area of workshops, stores and office buildings, occupying about 132 acres) should be retained for Government use, no longer restricted to Service Departments;
(c) the Armament Research and Development Establishment occupying 90 acres, should remain until such time as the facilities can be much reduced or even dispensed with;
(d) the site of the old Filling Factory would be suitable for the construction of a power station (the Central Electricity Generating Board is considering this) and possibly for a helicopter station; but if these possibilities come to nothing the Filling Factory site should be retained for some years while the ground settles and becomes suitable for disposal for other purposes;
(e) the other Government activities scattered over the remaining 700 acres could, at some expense, be moved elsewhere and free the area for development afresh; but the natural deficiencies of the site and the planning requirements which would have to be met make it unlikely that any person or body would undertake comprehensive development;
(f) in view of this, further Government use should be made of the land so far as possible, for example, by moving there Government storage occupying more valuable sites elsewhere in London; a study of this should be undertaken forthwith;
(g) negotiations should be continued with the L.C.C., who are interested in acquiring some land at the eastern end of the Arsenal site as a barrier to their sewerage works;
(h) when, in two or three years' time, the recommendations made above have been carried through the War Office should go ahead with disposing of the unused portions; it might be practicable at that date to invite tenders for comprehensive private development. Failing this, the War Office should produce a scheme, in consultation with local interests, for selling in suitable parcels.

Consultations regarding these proposals will now be undertaken with the interests affected and I hope to set in motion the new 1960 plan before long. I will inform the House if the plan should depart appreciably from the outline given above.