Agenda item
Further Alterations to the London Plan- Public Consultation by the Mayor of London
The Mayor of London is proposing, and consulting upon, further alterations to the London Plan. This report explains the key changes from the existing London Plan and highlights the implications for Brent. It also proposes how the Council should respond.
I have produced the appendix to the report separately and sent copies to members only. Few spares are available for inspection on request. Please contact the Democratic Services Officer for assistance.
Decision:
that the proposed alterations to the London Plan as outlined in the report be noted and that the Strategic Director, Regeneration & Growth be asked to respond to the Mayor’s consultation based upon the council’s own planning objectives.
Minutes:
Members considered a report that explained the key changes from the existing London Plan, highlighted the implications for Brent and suggested some basic responses to the key planning issues on Further Alterations to the London Plan which was currently being consulted upon by the Mayor of London. Ken Hullock, Head of Planning and Transport Strategy highlighted the key changes to the London Plan which had the biggest implications for Brent.
Population
The population projection that underpinned the Alterations to the London Plan showed that London’s population would grow from 8.2 million in 2011 to 10.11 million in 2036. This represented a growth of nearly 10% but for Brent, the projected expected population growth was 25% which would present huge implications for planning in Brent. There would be a lot of pressure on the use of scarce land, particularly for housing and also the supporting infrastructure such as schools and health facilities and the need to accommodate job creating activities in a sustainable way.
Housing
The need to plan for this growth had the most significant implications for individual boroughs in terms of the housing targets that the London Mayor was setting through the Alterations. Brent’s increase was 34% for conventional housing but this rose to 43% when account was taken of non-self-contained housing, almost completely attributable to student housing consents granted in the Wembley area.
Town Centres
Members heard that in response to previous GLA consultation, the Council made the case that, in light of the development of the London Designer Outlet and consented major retail street, Wembley and Wembley Park town centre would be effectively one centre, of a scale and with an offer characteristic of a Metropolitan centre as defined in the London Plan. As it was not acknowledged that both Wembley and Wembley Park could potentially change in status to one combined Metropolitan centre, officers were recommending that Brent made representations so that it was acknowledged within the London Plan that Wembley had the potential to expand as a single Metropolitan centre
Employment
It was proposed to focus release of land around transport nodes and town centres. Members heard that the proposed major release of industrial land in Park Royal at Old Oak, just over the borough boundary south of Willesden Junction station, had been accepted by Brent through the process of agreeing a draft Vision for the Old Oak area, although it was expected that this release would be compensated for by the intensive development in the area for alternative employment opportunities. Although Brent supported the identification of Old Oak as a new Opportunity Area with the potential to deliver 55,000 new jobs it was felt that the overall job creation figure could be higher as the Vision drawn up for the area estimated that up to 90,000 jobs could be created.
In the ensuing discussion, members noted that the housing target figure of 1,525 per annum would be difficult to achieve in the current economic climate and particularly due to scarcity of land in the Borough. It was pointed out that transport infrastructure to support increases in housing development and population increases was inadequate. Concern was expressed about inadequate parking facilities in and around the Wembley area which had seen a phenomenal increase in housing and retail developments. This was considered a major defect in attracting shoppers to the town centre and the retail facilities.
In responding to the above, the Head of Planning and Strategy stated that the Council would continue in its efforts to identify transport infrastructure to support the housing developments across the borough through the Development Infrastructure Project Study (DIPS) and in liaison with Transport for London (TfL). He added that the Council was aware of the need to identify more sites for new housing allocations in the borough than previously estimated, or that development should be at higher densities than previously allowed, or both. Members heard that consents had been granted for new car parks including multi-storey car parks and that recent estimate showed that there were approximately 8,000 homes with planning consent in the borough which had not been implemented.
The Head of Planning and Transport Strategy added that following the Mayor’s consultation period, officers of the GLA would make changes to the draft Alterations and then submit the proposed changes with the Alterations to the Secretary of State for Examination, which was scheduled to take place later in 2014. He requested members to agree the basic response to the key areas outlined in the report and to authorise officers to compile further comments based on the council’s own planning and growth objectives to be submitted to the Mayor before 10 April 2014.
RESOLVED:
that the proposed alterations to the London Plan as outlined be noted and that the Strategic Director, Regeneration & Growth be asked to respond to the Mayor’s consultation based upon the council’s own planning objectives.
Supporting documents:
- Further alterations to London Plan, item 3. PDF 570 KB
- Appendix Proposed Alterations to Policies Map, item 3. PDF 2 MB