Good news for Woolwich

5.00.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 22nd Mar 2007

Geoff Pope today welcomed the news that a funding package had been devised to build a Crossrail station at Woolwich, which the Government said could not be afforded. Transport Minister Douglas Alexander conceded in a statement that Greenwich and developer Berkeley Homes had come up with the £160 million and that Woolwich could now be included in the Crossrail Bill.

Geoff commented: "All of us who have campaigned for a Crossrail station at Woolwich will be delighted that a way has been found to fund the £165 million investment. It is no credit to the Government that Greenwich and Berkeley Homes have devised a cunning plan to cover its costs. Woolwich Crossrail should have been in their plans from the beginning.Woolwich is a major transport hub but is also a disadvantaged community greatly in need of the regeneration benefits Crossrail will bring. All we now need is for Gordon Brown to agree to fund the Crossrail project itself."