These are exciting times for Greenwich.

Record inward investment, secured by Greenwich Council and our partners, is transforming the face of our borough. Step by step, we are reversing years of economic decline brought about by the demise of our traditional industries. As a result, the visible signs of regeneration lie all around us – in every part of our borough.

Over the last year, we have made every effort to ensure that our priorities mirror your priorities. Around 35,000 residents seized the opportunity to tell us their vision for a future Greenwich at one of our Great Get Together consultation events.

We have listened to what you told us. We are seeking to meet your aspirations with an ambitious plan that takes advantage of the once in a lifetime opportunity record amounts of inward investment have given us.

You told us that transport was one of your main priorities. We agree. That’s why we are committed to securing new transport links that will open up job opportunities across the capital and attract new businesses to our borough.

The North Greenwich stop on the Jubilee line has shown just how much of a catalyst transport links can be in terms of regeneration. It has become the most successful station on the Jubilee line extension and together with new and improved local bus services, our existing rail services and a commuter river service, it is helping our borough to become south east London’s transport hub.

This unique position will soon be strengthened even further. Work is well underway on a new DLR station in Woolwich that will open in 2009. A Crossrail station in Abbey Wood will follow just a few years later.

Our attempts to persuade people of the overwhelming economic case for opening a further Crossrail station in Woolwich continue apace. Like the thousands of local residents and businesses who supported our campaign, we understand that we cannot afford to miss out on the wider benefits this development would bring.

You also told us that access to high quality and affordable housing is one of the biggest challenges we face today.  Again we agree. That’s why we will continue to build on our proud record of substantial housing developments; delivering thousands of new and affordable homes on the Greenwich Peninsula, Woolwich Arsenal, Kidbrooke and across the borough.

Not only have many of these developments brought former wasteland back into use, they have provided us with an opportunity to negotiate benefits such as schools and new health facilities that will benefit the whole of our community.

And finally you told us that you wanted to see new life breathed into our three town centres. We agree.  That’s why we have launched ambitious plans to build three new local service centers in Eltham, Woolwich and Greenwich. As well as acting as a catalyst for wider regeneration projects in each area, they will ensure that you can access a range of modern, first class services in your neighbourhood.

All of this is part of our long-term vision to help us create a truly sustainable community within the Thames Gateway. It is set out in this, our new Unitary Development Plan (UDP), which is our development blueprint for the future.

As I stated, none of this could have been possible without the many local people, community organisations and businesses who have fed in their views. Your input has helped us to identify areas for future development opportunities, in particular where new homes should be built and how we can continue to protect our open spaces and the natural environment.

Together we can continue to ensure that Greenwich remains a great place in which we can all be proud to live, work, learn and visit.