Terms of reference
The Outer London Commission will bring together representatives of:
- Outer London boroughs
- Other public sector agencies with an interest in the development and regeneration of outer London
- Sub-regional and similar partnerships (such as business improvement districts)
- Developers and landowners
- Experts in the fields of planning, economic development and development finance
- The GLA Group (including the London Development Agency and Transport for London)
To develop policy recommendations to help enable outer London to realise its economic, social and environmental potential and play a full part in London’s continued success.
The Commission will:
- Identify the extent to which outer London has unrealised potential to contribute to London’s economic success, the factors that are impeding it from doing so and the economic, social and environmental benefits that could be achieved.
- Recommend policies and proposals for the future development of Outer London to the Mayor for inclusion in the London Plan, its
associated supplementary guidance and other GLA Group strategies and guidance. These should include:
- Ways of encouraging employment growth in outer London
- Ways of identifying, and supporting the development of major and secondary economic growth hubs in outer London. The Commission may want to suggest particular appropriate locations or establish criteria to designate such locations.
- The role of town centres and town centre-based initiatives such as business improvement districts, town centre partnerships etc.
- The part that heritage and urban design issues (eg appropriate locations for tall buildings) might play
- Clarify the links between housing, retail, office-based and other types of employment and development in outer London
- Links and tensions between economic success and improving quality of life in outer London, and ways of managing these effectively
- Infrastructure and other investment required to support economic growth in outer London. This may include a preliminary estimate of the order of investment likely to be required, relative priorities and the timescales and innovative approaches to transport and parking.
- Means of funding such infrastructure and investment
- Any issues that are presented by the relationship between outer, inner and central London
- Any issues that are presented by the relationship between outer London and neighbouring areas outside London in the East and South-East of England.
- Any other issue identified by the Commission as meriting consideration.
- Make general and place-specific recommendations about implementing the policies and initiatives, including:
- improving the current arrangements for sub-regional working
- encouraging more effective joint action by boroughs, the GLA Group, other public sector agencies and the private and not-for-profit sectors.
- ways to make public, private and third sector partnerships to secure investment and development in outer London more effective.
- Establishing more effective dialogue with neighbouring regions to secure co-ordinated economic development of outer London and neighbouring parts of the wider metropolitan area.
- The Commission will work with other outer London stakeholders in the private, public and voluntary sectors to ensure the widest possible support for the Commission’s recommendations and proposals.
The Commission’s report should be evidence-based, drawing on the information about economic, demographic, social, environmental and other data held by the GLA Group and other organisations.
The Commission’s secretariat will be provided by the London Plan Team at the Greater London Authority, with input from other parts of the GLA and GLA Group as may be required.
The Commission will produce an interim report for inclusion in the London Plan review by June 2009 and submit its final report by the end of December 2011.