HC Deb 08 June 1984 vol 61 cc314-22W
Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many planning applications, by borough, have been determined by the London Docklands Development Corporation since it came into existence; and, of these, how many were classified as amajor applications on which more than 14 days were allowed for consultation;

(2) on what area of land, in acres or square feet, which was previously zoned for housing use in the London docklands strategic plan or the appropriate local plan, planning permission has been granted by the London Docklands Development Corporation for (a) offices, (b) industry, (c) warehousing and (d) other;

(3) on what area of land, in acres or square feet, which was previously zoned for industrial use in the London docklands strategic plan or the appropriate local plan, planning permission has been granted by the London Docklands Development Corporation for (a) offices, (b) housing, (c) warehousing and (d) other;

(4) how many planning applications which include office use have been granted by the London Docklands Development Corporation; and what is the total area, in square feet, of office use granted permission by the London Docklands Development Corporation;

(5) on how many planning applications, by borough, the London Docklands Development Corporation has offered a member-level meeting to the appropriate borough council before making a decision which is contrary to that council's views;

(6) in the case of how many planning applications, by borough, determined by the London Docklands Development Corporation, its decision was contrary to the views put forward by the appropriate borough council, where these had been received before the decision was made;

(7) how many planning applications, by borough, have been determined by the London Docklands Development Corporation in advance of receipt of the appropriate borough council's views on the application;

(8) how the London Docklands Development Corporation defines major planning applications and minor planning applications for the purposes of consultation.

Sir George Young

A total of 924 planning applications have been determined by LDDC, as follows:

Number
Newham 317
Southwark 281
Tower Hamlets 326

I shall answer the remaining questions as soon as the information requested is available.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) when the London Docklands Development Corporation is to publish its report on the "Use of the River";

(2) what plans the London Docklands Development Corporation has to encourage ship repair or freight handling in docklands.

Sir George Young

There are no current plans for a single, comprehensive report on the use of the river. Papers on specific topics have been prepared for discussion in the corporation's use of the river group on which some 14 organisations are represented including the National Waterways Transport Association, Thames Passenger Services Federation, London Wharfingers Association, Association of Master Lightermen, Transport on Water, Port of London Authority, British Waterways Board, Greater London Council, Transport and General Workers Union and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

The group is currently engaged in a survey of all river facilities and operations in docklands. This survey will help to identify which sections of the river are best suited for ship repair and freight handling. Any new ship repair or water freight operations drawn to the area will be encouraged to locate in those locations so identified. One ship repair company is currently negotiating with LDDC to acquire land to accommodate its expansion programme.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) how many existing firms have received from the London Docklands Development Corporation (a) advice, (b) practical assistance, and (c) financial assistance; and in which borough these firms were located;

(2) which firms received financial support from the London Docklands Development Corporation in 1982–83 and 1983–84; and how much was given in loans and grants to each firm.

Sir George Young

Since September 1983, when the corporation's docklands business research and information centre was established, 1,372 inquiries have been received of the following nature:

Numbers
Grant availability 148
Information on Enterprise Zone 318
Information on LDDC areas outside EZ 182
General Information 388
Business advice—financial 151
Business advice—general 185

It is not possible to break down this information by boroughs.

In 1982–83 the LDDC assisted 12 firms with grants amounting to £200,404, and in 1983–84 30 firms with grants amounting to £383,179. It is not the practice of the corporation to release information on the individual firms concerned.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many people who previously had jobs within the London Docklands Development Coporation area were made redundant in 1982–83 and 1983–84;

(2) how many firms in the London Docklands Development Corporation area closed down in 1982–83 and 1983–84, by borough.

Sir George Young

The following table gives the number of effective redundancies (excluding closures or redundancies affecting less than 10 people).

Firm Closures Other
No. of firms Jobs Lost Redundancies
1982–83 6 260 278
1983–84 4 98 322

A breakdown of this information by boroughs is not available.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many firms from within the London Docklands Development Corporation area have relocated (a) within the London Docklands Development Corporation area, and (b) outside the London Docklands Development Corporation area, since the London Docklands Development Corporation came into existence.

Sir George Young

I can reply only in respect of relocations in which the LDDC has been directly involved. The corporation has relocated firms as follows:

Number of firms Number of jobs involved
(a) within the urban development area 10 116
(b) outside the UDA but within one mile of the firm's original location 9 78
(c) elsewhere 12 91

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will give a breakdown into the following categories of jobs created by the London Docklands Development Corporation since it came into existence (a) office, (b) industry, (c) warehousing and (d) construction.

Sir George Young

The information is not available in the form requested, but the following estimate is available of new jobs created in the urban development area (excluding Inner Urban Areas Act assistance) since July 1981:

Jobs
Office developments 1,090
Distributive trades 1,340
Media industry 70
Mixed use developments* 685
3,185
* Predominantly industrial and warehousing.

In addition there are not less than 1,500 construction jobs associated with developments within the urban development area.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment (1) if he will give a detailed breakdown on a project by project basis of the 1,000 permanent jobs in the Isle of Dogs enterprise zone which the London Docklands Development Corporation claims to have created;

(2) how many houses and flats in the London Docklands Development Corporation area (a) have been developed since 1981 and (b) will be developed in future, in each of the following price ranges: under £30,000, £31,000 to £49,000, £50,000 to £69,000, £70,000 to £90,000 and over £100,000, respectively;

(3) when the London Docklands Development Corporation's 1984–85 corporate plan will be made available to the public;

(4) when the full version of the London Docklands Development Corporation's 1983–84 corporate plan is to be made available to the public;

(5) what is the present ratio of public to private sector investment in (a) the enterprise zone in Tower Hamlets and (b) the rest of the London Docklands Development Corporation area.

Sir George Young

I shall answer these questions shortly.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many new permanent jobs have been created through new projects initiated by the London Docklands Development Corporation (a) in its area as a whole, (b) in each of Southwark, Tower Hamlets and Newham and (c) in the Isle of Dogs enterprise zone.

Sir George Young

The extent to which the LDDC's programme of land reclamation, infrastructure works, environmental and social improvements and marketing has contributed to the creation of 3,185 new jobs cannot be directly quantified. Grants by the corporation under the Inner Urban Areas Act have directly facilitated additional job preservation and job creation as follows:

Jobs preserved Jobs created
Newham 257 398
Southwark 63 11
Tower Hamlets 261 69

The LDDC does not make IUJAA grants available in the Isle of Dogs enterprise zone. In addition, LDDC funding of community projects has resulted in the creation of 59 jobs since the corporation was established.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what is the extent in the London Docklands Development Corporation area of unfit homes, homes lacking basic amenities, and homes needing renovation; and to what extent the London Docklands Development Corporation has made a contribution towards the rehabilitation of such homes.

Sir George Young

The breakdown requested is not available for the urban development area itself. For the three boroughs into which the UDA falls, the figures at 1 April 1983 were:

No. of dwellings Percentage of total dwellings
Unfit 31,785 13.3
Lacking basic amenities 18,623 7.8
In need of renovation 17,894 7.5

The LDDC does not have the functions of a statutory housing authority; this responsibility remains with the boroughs. Nevertheless the corporation is concerned to help secure the improvement of housing conditions in Docklands. It is currently committed to contributing over £1 million to help upgrade the environment of seven housing estates—the Woodman estate in Newham and St. Mary's Adams gardens, Albion, Aylton, Irwell and Renforth estates in Southwark—in association with the boroughs concerned, which are carrying out improvement work on the dwellings themselves. The corporation has also purchased from Tower Hamlets a block of 160 rundown flats and is arranging the refurbishment of these for sale at prices not exceeding £45,000 a unit. In addition, the LDDC has sought to acquire over 800 run-down flats from Southwark for refurbishment or redevelopment.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what proportion of housing to be built on London Docklands Development Corporation owned land in 1984–85 in Newham and Tower Hamlets will be (a) council housing, (b) housing association housing, (c) shared equity housing and (d) private housing.

Sir George Young

The information is as follows:

Newham Tower Hamlets
Total dwellings* 680 1,700
of which: per cent. per cent.
council 0 †12
housing association for rent 45 †8
shared equity 10 12
private 45 68

* Dwellings on sites started in 1983–84 and proposed to start in 1984–85.

† Dependent on the local authority or housing association taking up sites offered to them.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment if Her Majesty's Government or the London Docklands Development Corporation is monitoring changes in land values in the London Docklands Development Corporation area.

Sir George Young

Yes, they are both doing so.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many houses built by the London Docklands Development Corporation or by private developers since 1981 in the London Docklands Development Corporation area have accommodated people from the housing waiting lists in (a) Newham, (b) Tower Hamlets and (c) Southwark.

Sir George Young

This information is not monitored by the LDDC. However, it is known from a survey conducted by the corporation that of the first 120 privately built houses in Newham, 35 per cent. were purchased by previous council tenants or those on housing waiting lists, over half of whom were living in the borough. It is also estimated that over 80 per cent. of the privately built houses in Southwark have either been purchased by a housing association and let to Southwark tenants or have been bought by public sector tenants previously living in Southwark.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many units of housing accommodation have been built in each of (a) Tower Hamlets, (b) Newham and (c) Southwark, within the London Docklands Development Corporation area for private occupation and how many for public ownership, since the London Docklands Development Corporation commenced operations in docklands.

Sir George Young

The number of dwellings completed to the end of March within the urban development area is as follows:

Tower Hamlets Newham Southwark
Private occupation 11 986 126
Public ownership 31 133 187

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment how many acres of land previously held by the Greater London council or the boroughs within the London Docklands Development Corporation area have been built on, or sold to, or prepared for the use of private developers.

Sir George Young

The following is the information available on the development of land acquired by LDDC, over 90 per cent. of which was formerly owned by local authorities and public sector bodies:

Acres
Awaiting reclamation/being reclaimed 576.8
Awaiting development 205.9
Being developed/in use 225.5
1,008.2

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what the London Docklands Development Corporation is doing to make land available to the borough councils and to housing associations; how much land has been made available to each of the docklands boroughs; and which housing associations have been able to develop housing on London Docklands Development Corporation-owned land.

Sir George Young

The corporation has offered each local authority in its area the opportunity to purchase land for council house building.

The corporation has agreed with the London borough of Tower Hamlets sites for 350 dwellings which the council could build. In addition, schemes have been earmarked where the council could fund housing associations to build or where the council could arrange for the construction and subsequent purchase of dwellings from a private housebuilder. In Southwark, similar arrangements have been offered but not accepted. In Newham, specific sites have not yet been identified for council acquisition and building because the borough has a substantial development land holding already within the docklands area.

The following housing associations have acquired dwellings from private builders on corporation land:

  • East London Housing Association
  • London and Quadrant Housing Association
  • Centurion Housing Association
  • The World of Property Housing Trust

The following housing association has commenced building on corporation land:

  • The Royal British Legion Housing Association

The following housing associations have been allocated land on which they could build:

  • Toynbee Housing Trust
  • Springboard Housing Association
  • Shaftsbury Housing Association
  • Circle 33 Housing Association
  • Riverside Self Build Society
  • Essex Self Build Society
  • Abbey National Housing Society
  • Sutton and Hastoe Housing Society

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment where the London Docklands Development Corporation intends to acquire, by agreement or by vesting, further land within its area.

Sir George Young

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Newham, South (Mr. Spearing) on 24 May, at column464.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what contribution is being made by the London Docklands Development Corporation to the servicing costs of new developments in the London Docklands Development Corporation area.

Sir George Young

The LDDC has a substantial programme for the reclamation of land and the provision of services and transport infrastructure all of which serves new and existing developments on land both in LDDC's onwership and elsewhere in docklands.

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what has been the London Docklands Development Corporation's expenditure in each of the years since it was set up (a) in the enterprise zone, (b) in the rest of its area and (c) on all items not attributable to particular geographical areas.

Sir George Young

Total LDDC expenditure in each of the years since it was set up is as follows:

£000
1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 Total
Enterprise Zone 11,834 6,864 6,394 25,092
Other Areas 21,181 28,906 45,096 95,183
Non-geographical 2,046 5,256 7,907 15,209
Total 35,061 41,026 59,397 135,484

Mr. Tony Banks

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment by what method he intends to reconcile differences in proposed land us in docklands between the various local authorities' land use plans, and the proposals and schemes of the London Docklands Development Corporation.

Sir Geogre Young

The procedures for dealing with proposals in relation to which LDDC is the local planning authority and which, in the opinion of the corporation, would conflict with or prejudice the implementation of the provisions of any development plan in force in the area in which the land is situated, are contained in the Town and Country Planning (Development Plans) (Urban Development Corporations) (Greater London) Direction 1981.