WOOLWICH is an area with a proud industrial, military, maritime and royal heritage.

It is also an area which has suffered decades of decline and unemployment.

This is being addressed by Greenwich Council's involvement in one of the UK's largest regeneration programmes.

Central to its success is bringing first-class public transport developments such as Crossrail to the borough.

One jewel in the borough's crown is the Royal Arsenal, where the council has approved a masterplan for a mix-use development.

This includes up to 2,517 new homes, leisure facilities, a 120-bed hotel, shops, bars and restaurants, offices, health care, a nursery, a museum, a combined heat and power plant, landscaping and open space.

Thirty-five per cent, or 880, of the new homes will be affordable housing.

A total of 769 new jobs and 500 construction jobs are anticipated.

The Royal Arsenal is part of the regeneration of Woolwich and the town centre.

A number of important development schemes are proposed in the town centre, including the construction of new civic offices and a large Tesco supermarket.

There will be a new development associated with the construction of the new DLR station, which is under way and due to open in 2009.

To the eastern end of Woolwich is the White Hart Triangle, a major new industrial and business site with planning permission for up to 106,000sq m of development space over 40 acres of formerly derelict land.

So far, three phases have been completed, with 16,000sq m of new business, industrial and distribution space.

Planning permission has been granted for the next phase, which will provide a further 19,000sq m of distribution space.

A central theme of the campaign for Woolwich Crossrail is explaining what Woolwich can offer to the scheme, as much as what the town can expect to receive from it.

Crossrail is the biggest transport development in the capital for generations.

Including a regenerating Woolwich will make it the most successful.