Conservatives on Greenwich Council have renewed their call for the Government to save Woolwich Barracks, in the light of the recent decision to boost defence spending in the UK.
The historic Barracks are due to be sold off by the Ministry of Defence, following a decision first made in 2020. Local Conservatives opposed the decision and secured thousands of signatures on a petition against the closure. The campaign was led by our late colleague Councillor John Hills, a former serviceman.
Now Councillor Charlie Davis, Deputy Leader of the Opposition, has called on Greenwich Council’s Labour leadership to join Greenwich Conservatives in lobbying the Government to rethink the decision. The Prime Minister recently announced a significant increase in national defence spending, and in last week’s Spring Statement the Chancellor of the Exchequer said she wanted the UK to become a “Defence Industrial Superpower”, with a focus on developing new technologies.
At the March meeting of Greenwich Council, Councillor Davis raised the issue and asked the leader of the Council:
“Given the ever-evolving defence landscape, and the commitment to increase the defence budget, will the Leader join us and everyone in this chamber in renewing calls for the decision to be reviewed, and will the Council lobby for the site to be repurposed as part of the new defence industrial strategy, potentially as a new intelligence and cybersecurity hub?”
In his reply, the Leader of the Council, Anthony Okereke confirmed the Council remains concerned over the proposed closure, and said he would be happy to raise the issue with the Government.
Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Davis said:
"The closure of Woolwich Barracks is heavily opposed by local people across the Royal Borough, who are rightly proud of our rich military history. If the government is looking to develop innovative new security and intelligence technologies, Woolwich would make an ideal site to develop this capacity. I hope the Leader of the Council will join us in making a serious approach to ministers to consider repurposing the Barracks site to allow it to play a continuing role in the defence of the country.
