London Mayor, Ken Livingstone, is counting down the days until his new planning powers in London come into force on 4th April 2008. The changes are expected to have a major effect on the planning process in the capital and will demand extensive and early engagement between developers, Boroughs and the Mayor’s office. Under the GLA Act 2007, the long serving Mayor will have the ability to become the planning authority for strategic projects in the London Boroughs – a power significantly over and above his existing ability to direct the Boroughs to refuse planning permission. The Mayor has cautioned that he plans to use the new powers “with extreme prejudice” in an effort to impose his vision for London on recalcitrant developers and London Boroughs. The Mayor will be continuing the fight to increase these powers by seeking to change the definition of a strategic planning application from over 1,000 new homes to just 150 homes of which over 50% will be expected to be “affordable”. His unashamedly interventionalist agenda on climate change and affordable housing will be the central plank of his re-election battle with Boris Johnson (Ken has reported a 21 point lead this week) in the 2008 Mayoral election. He will be pushing for “Merton plus” on climate change.
Meanwhile Ken’s policy officers admit that the Mayor’s office does not yet have the capacity to deal withthe potential influx of new applications – developers and boroughs should beware!
Posted by Chris Brown, filed under Current Affairs, England and Wales, Planning. Date: December 18, 2007, 1:03 pm |
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