NEWS DESK

Mayor of London Boris Johnson today published ‘Planning a better London’  - a report setting out how he intends to improve the quality of life for Londoners through the capital’s planning system and specifically through revising the London Plan, the city’s statutory strategic planning document.

The report outlines how the Mayor will be changing London's strategic planning policies and describes how he wants to build stronger partnerships with local communities, London Boroughs and those developing in the capital.  There will be less emphasis on detailed targets and more emphasis on collaboration and consensus around priorities that are agreed between the Mayor and local interests.

This new approach will not sacrifice London’s crucial need to grow to accommodate a rising population and an expanding economy, and to do so whilst protecting London’s Green Belt and open spaces from development.   Key changes proposed include abolishing the 50 per cent London-wide affordable housing target, but committing to an expanded programme of 50,000 affordable homes over the next three years. Instead of a London wide 50 per cent target, the new approach will involve agreeing individual affordable housing targets with London boroughs.

The Mayor will also introduce additional protection for London’s historic landmarks and World Heritage Sites, and while he supports new tall buildings in appropriate locations, this will not be at the cost of undermining the unique character of these sites.

‘Planning a better London’ supports stronger policies to ensure new developments are better designed to cut down on crime and anti-social behaviour and sets out how the London Plan needs to press for stretching targets to reduce London’s carbon footprint, concentrating on achieving clear carbon reduction outcomes, rather than specifying detailed technologies.

‘Planning a better London’ is a consultation document that invites responses until 10 November, following which the formal process for reviewing the London Plan will begin.

The Mayor said:

“I want a London Plan that helps give Londoners a better quality of life, that takes proper account of local needs and which developers and local boroughs can easily use. Although the London Plan has achieved a lot of good over the past eight years, it is too unwieldy and there’s too much focus on detail rather than outcomes.  I want to see a slimmer Plan, which deals with genuinely strategic issues, but this won’t be at the expense of London’s need for more homes and economic success. In future, both inner and outer London will be equal priorities, and I’ll be working more collaboratively with local Boroughs, especially to see that we get the 50,000 affordable homes we need to build over the next three years”.