There really isn't a right and wrong answer to this, but I will say that the content has to be long enough to answer the question that the page is answering.

In some circumstances, this might mean a short page with just 200 words - other times it might be more. 5000+ sounds a bit insane and like they are trying to over optimise, in which case would make me wonder about the phrase itself - is it low search volume?

There are so many variables that come into play with ranking pages that it would be impossible to say with any degree of certainty what is going on without actually seeing it.

From a usability view, this also sounds very excessive.

Make your pages clear and straight to the point without any waffle - and with 5000+ words, I would be surprised if all of that was really needed.

-Andy

The hash tag means that the page wont be indexed by Google and therefore, carry no page rank. It is like it is invisible. Just launch the new pages because Google will have never seen the current ones.

-Andy

Absolutely agree with Egol. This might not help with the SEO per se, but such a big SEO factor is how happy people are on the page itself. You might find by adding important bullets that you retain someone for longer, make them want to read further and then go on to make a purchase.

Make the pages as good as is possible.

-Andy

That will teach me to skim read

Perhaps trying a different 301 plugin will help? Alternatively, you can pretty much redirect anything from within .htaccess.

This page on Webmaster World might be worth reading.

-Andy

I don't think IP factor matters that much

Going to disagree with this here I'm afraid because I have seen some quite overwhelming results based on a user location. I am based in Chester, UK - If I search, based on my IP, I will be shown local results earlier - that kind of thing. I'm not saying this is always going to be the case, but based on locations, it can play a pretty major part.

@Hans - There are lots of things you can do to try and remedy this, but remember that Google has the final say. You could try building your brand strength more and perhaps talk create a few blog posts based around location and product, talk about surrounding towns that you cover and suggestions as Umar mentions above.

Also you could do a little testing and see how your competitors get around this issue. Crossing every 't' and dotting every 'i' is going to be a big key to success.

-Andy