Greenwich is at a point of great change and opportunity.  Its sits at the pivotal point in the Thames Gateway with the reality of thousands of new jobs, new industries, homes and cultural opportunities on its riverfront.  The population has huge contracts of affluence side by side with poverty and multiple deprivation.  The Council, together with its partners, must raise aspirations and deliver on the hopes and ambitions of its residents.

Greenwich is one of 14 Inner London Boroughs. It is situated south east of Central London and is bounded to the north by the River Thames. With 8 miles of river frontage, the Borough has the longest river embankment of all London Boroughs. Twenty-five percent of the borough is green open land - which includes Oxleas Wood which has existed since the last ice age. There are views across London and to the south from Shooters Hill - the highest point in London at 129 metres.

The Borough includes three main town centres - Greenwich, Woolwich and Eltham, and also encompasses the areas of Charlton, Blackheath Standard, Kidbrooke, Plumstead, Abbey Wood and New Eltham. The new town of Thamesmead is also partly in the Borough, straddling Greenwich's eastern boundary with Bexley.

Greenwich is a borough of contrasts, on the one hand a major destination for tourists attracted by majestic buildings, parks, views, the prime meridian and a wealth of history forming a unified whole of international importance reflected in the status of Greenwich Town Centre as a World Heritage Site. On the other hand, it is a borough with pockets of extreme poverty and deprivation. To combat this, Greenwich is undergoing great change, with a whole range of regeneration and restoration activities reshaping the area after a period of severe economic recession which devastated the local economy.

Enormous strides have been made to address the issues arising from this. One of the key successes in recent years has been the big reduction in unemployment in the Borough. Greenwich has been very successful in its regeneration work over many years. Headline achievements include:

• Major remediation of almost all contaminated land
• Substantial developments on large sites including Greenwich Peninsula, the Royal Arsenal and Thamesmead
• Major new transportation infrastructure including the Jubilee Line and Docklands Light Railway and new piers at Woolwich and North Greenwich
• Greater spend in Greenwich than any other London borough from each of the Single Regeneration Budgets, the National Lottery and English Partnerships
• New parks, open spaces, river walks, cycleways and leisure centres
• Major improvement programmes to large housing estates

There are still major pieces of regeneration work to be undertaken in the Borough to ensure the vision set out in the draft Greenwich Strategy becomes a reality.

These can be summarized as:

• Redevelopment of Kidbrooke.
• Development of new Regeneration Strategy setting a new framework and vision for the next ten years.
• Continuing to tackle the pockets of severe deprivation in the Borough.
• Further work around improving the vibrancy of our Town Centres.
• Implementation of and maximizing the benefits from further transport improvements such as the Waterfront Transit and DLR extension to Woolwich.
• Progression of the Schools Redevelopment Programme.
• Work to implement the national and local environmental agenda.
• Continuation of creation of sustainable jobs and businesses.
• Development of the local cultural and creative industries.
• Sustainable development of remaining strategic sites in the Borough.