Fire hits land near Woolwich DLR station
Smoke engulfed an area around Woolwich DLR station last night causing concern in the area.
Some speculated it was a train – however the cause was rubbish catching fire on waste ground above the tracks and platforms.
https://twitter.com/LondonDLR/status/1136002659423571970
The area above the tracks and platforms is an area of ground I’ve long covered on this site. TfL signed a deal with developer Oakmayne over 10 years ago to developer the area. Since then nothing has happened despite TfL’s need for income and the housing crises.
TfL have since made a big fanfare of developing housing directly or in partnership yet have achieved little with earlier schemes such as Woolwich.
The land is now covered in rubbish and as seen last night – apparently not very safe.
Perhaps TFL should contact the developer to find out if and when they plan to start to redevelop the site and what the development would entail in the way of homes. 10 years is a very long time to keep a site in London undeveloped for the developer.
This is the problem with empty sites of waste ground left empty for long periods of time. They attract rubbish to be dumped on them and you then have the possibility of a fire or rodents (rats and mice) attracted on to the site.
Thankfully on this occasion no trains were involved in the incident.