A Greenwich councillor has told Transport for London to “pull its socks up” over eyesore sites next to Woolwich Arsenal station that remain disused 16 years after the Docklands Light Railway extension was built.

Sam Littlewood, who represents Woolwich Arsenal, made the comments when TfL representatives appeared at a transport scrutiny panel last Thursday.

The sites have been a local eyesore since the link across the Thames opened in January 2009. Plans for a hotel and flats were approved in 2012 but went nowhere. A report to TfL’s land and property committee last October suggested work would not start on the site until at least 2029.

Littlewood challenged Josh Freestone, a TfL community partnerships specialist, after being told in a written response that TfL was “reviewing its land holdings in and around Woolwich Arsenal station”.

Woolwich Arsenal DLR station
Plans to redevelop this land on Woolwich New Road were originally announced in 2009. Image: The Greenwich Wire

“The land has a range of operational constraints and Places for London – TfL’s wholly owned property company – is working with Network Rail to understand the constraints and opportunities for bringing forward suitable and appropriate developments,” the response said

The Labour councillor said the answer was “disappointing”, the vacant land was “wasteful”, and that “there doesn’t seem to be a plan”.

“It’s been that way since 2009, so that’s 16 years ago,” he said. “Donald Trump was still a Democrat back then. Can TfL pull its socks up and get something done here?”

Freestone said he was sorry that the answer was disappointing and “woolly”.

Greens End entrance to Woolwich Arsenal site
No plans have been submitted for the Greens End site, pictured before the Beresford Square redevelopment. Image: The Greenwich Wire

“I wasn’t too aware of this situation, but I will raise this with our colleagues in Places for London,” he said. “I think it’s potentially having a discussion about kind of what exactly they plan for it, I’m not able to speak to it today.” 

He promised to come back with an answer within “weeks”.

A number of buildings, including the Pullman pub on Woolwich New Road and a bank on Greens End, were demolished in the mid-2000s to make way for the railway.

Tower over 2010 Woolwich street scene
Oakmayne and TfL’s planned Woolwich New Road development went nowhere. Image: Allies & Morrison/Oakmayne via council documents

In July 2009, six months after the station opened, TfL announced it had formed a joint venture with the developer Oakmayne to build on top of the station and develop the old worksite on the corner of Woolwich New Road and Spray Street.

Plans for a hotel and 16-storey block of flats were submitted to Greenwich Council in September 2010 and approved 18 months later, but went nowhere and the land remains empty. A fragment from the old Pullman pub, demolished two decades ago to make way for the railway extension, still stands next to the station.

Woolwich Arsenal DLR under construction in 2008. Image: Google Streetview

The written response to Littlewood said: “Over the past six months Places for London has engaged with Greenwich’s regeneration team and are working to define opportunities for short and longer term interventions, and these conversations will continue.

“We have worked with Greenwich and DLR to install public art panels on the new fencing facing Beresford Square, and we will consider more opportunities like this.

“Fly tipping is an issue and we are working with our operational property and DLR colleagues to address this issue. We hope to engage the local community to help inform our thinking for the future use of this land.”

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