The Elizabeth line station that wasn't supposed to be on the map - council finally pays £15m bill

Greenwich Council has revealed it has paid off its £15million bill for the Woolwich Elizabeth line station. The authority has used nearly half of the money raised from developer contributions since 2015 to finance the station, which was only added to the map at its request.

Council documents for an overview and scrutiny meeting on May 9 said the authority had made its final payment towards the bill to Transport for London, which was due at the end of March this year. The council entered into an agreement with the Greater London Authority to contribute £15m for the station in 2013, as the Woolwich station was not originally included in the plans for the route.

Payments were made through contributing half of the authority's Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) revenue, a fee developers pay to contribute to the surrounding area. This figure has amounted to £20.11million of funding for the council to use on its strategic priorities since the scheme was adopted in 2015, with half of this being used to fund the station.

The figure was also paid off using roof tax from developments within a one mile radius of the station. Council officers said in their report that the authority paid £718,660 of this remaining balance upfront using the second half of its CIL revenue. They added that the figure would be reimbursed once the final roof tax contributions from developers had been received.

READ MORE: Woolwich Foot Tunnel lift broken for over 18 months with cyclists carrying bikes up and down stairs

The council put forward plans in March this year to increase its CIL, which would see developers contributing £150 per square metre for residential properties built in Greenwich and Woolwich town centres as well as parts of Greenwich Peninsula. Developers would pay £96 per square metre to build residential properties elsewhere in the borough, the same amount required for student accommodation projects being built.

The planned increase came following two sets of public consultation last year, with 68 people out of 144 responses saying they disagreed with the proposals. The results claimed that 35 people felt the proposed charges should be higher so that better maintenance of infrastructure in the borough could be achieved.

Developers, including Knight Dragon, Berkeley Homes, Peabody and Lendlease, outlined their concerns on the increased rates being too high. The proposed increases to the council's CIL will be reviewed by an independent examiner in May.

Have a story you want to share? Email joseph.coughlan@reachplc.com.

Don't miss out on the biggest local stories. Sign up to our MySouthLondon newsletter HERE for all the latest daily news and more.