Initial Questions for the Commission
The Commission has consulted on its Initial Questions and the last date for receipt of written representations was 5 May 2009
Background
The Mayor has appointed a Commission to:
- find out the extent to which Outer London has potential to contribute to the economic success of London as a whole
- identify the factors which are holding it back from making that contribution, and
- make recommendations on policies and mechanisms which will enable it to do so
The Commission has been tasked more specifically to explore how these objectives can be achieved by:
- identifying the scope to ‘grow’ the Outer London economy on a sustainable basis, through encouragement of competitive, established sectors and attracting new ones,
- encouraging the development a few large ‘super-hubs’ eg Stratford, Croydon, Brent Cross and the Heathrow area, together with wider rejuvenation of Outer London’s town centres and other business locations,
- enhancing the ‘quality of life’ in outer London in terms of the business and residential environments and examining the relationship between demographic, housing and economic growth,
- fostering initiatives which make the most of Outer London’s distinct townscapes, including the potential of some locations to accommodate tall buildings,
- improving infrastructure, especially the balance to be struck between different types of provision for orbital and radial movement both strategically and locally,
- extending and deepening the skills base of outer London and addressing barriers to employment to meet existing and future business needs,
- identifying and enhancing the linkages with other parts of London and the wider South East which will support the broader objectives,
- suggesting how existing funding arrangements can be made more effective and pointing to new priorities for the future, and
- suggesting how relevant institutional arrangements can be refined to meet existing and future economic needs.
The Commission is taking forward its task in two ways. Firstly through statistical and other types of analyses and secondly by asking authoritative stakeholders in the outer London economy how it can best achieve its objectives. This engagement is being carried out through a series of informal and formal meetings and by providing an opportunity for written representations. Government experience of similar exercises suggests that the most effective way of undertaking such a consultation is by posing a series of written questions – this provides a structure for stakeholders to respond to while still allowing, indeed encouraging, them to raise other issues.
These questions are set out below. More detailed questions will be posted on the website to be addressed more specifically by the Commission’s economic, quality of life and transport working groups. The Commission welcomes comments which are addressed generally across Outer London and/or more specifically concerned with the particular circumstances of your borough or sub region. The Commission has used the same definition of Outer London as does Government for grant distribution purposes. However, it is mindful that parts of these Boroughs have ‘inner London’ characteristics and that parts of some Inner boroughs have Outer attributes so responses will be welcomed from stakeholders associated with relevant Inner boroughs.
For further details of the Commission’s approach to its work, including its terms of reference, evolving thinking and public submissions contact: outer.londoncommission@london.gov.uk.
The Commission is working to a tight deadline in order for its recommendations to inform preparation of the Mayor’s replacement London Plan. It therefore would be appreciated if written representations are made as soon as possible. Those which bear on a particular sub region will be most useful if they are made no later than one week before the Commission’s relevant, formal sub-regional meetings in order for consideration to be given to inviting brief (5 minutes) presentations in person at those meetings. Details of the formal meetings are set out on the Commission’s web site (see above). All written representations should be made by 5th May 2009.
Economic
- Why has Outer London growth in employment lagged behind that of Inner and Central London and that of the South East?
- What factors have contributed to the uneven performance of economic sectors and geographic areas in Outer London? Why have some economic sectors prospered and others declined? Why have some areas done better and others worse?
- Overall, what are the main barriers to economic and employment growth in Outer London and what factors need to be addressed to allow the region to fulfil its economic potential? In particular, what investments are needed (particularly transport, both private/public, and education/skills and business support) to best ensure employment growth to 2031 either in existing or new sectors?
- Which of the current employment sectors in Outer London will be thriving in 2031 and will any new sectors have emerged by then? Should we be actively encouraging particular sectors or focusing more on barriers that could be holding back growth in outer London?
- The Commission’s ‘First Thoughts’ paper outlines some ideas on the form ‘super-hubs’ might take and possible locations. Do you consider the development of 4 or 5 super-hubs in Outer London would enhance the Outer London’s overall employment growth potential? What form do you think they might take? What role could mixed use development have there?
- Which super-hub locations would you consider best meet the aim to improve Outer London’s economic performance and why? What can be done to ensure that the super hubs are sufficiently attractive to business that businesses would want to base their operations there? What is required to ensure that a sufficient employment base is created for a super hub; in particular, could growth be achievable with or without infrastructure improvements (specify the infrastructure improvements needed)?
- If super-hubs are created, what role would you envisage for other town centres and other business locations/hubs (eg Park Royal) in Outer London and how can those roles be enhanced alongside the creation of super-hubs?
- What do you consider would be the optimal balance of employment opportunity for outer London between local opportunities, those in Central or Inner London, or those outside London in nearby growth corridors? What are the implications for these other areas?
Quality of Life
- In absolute and relative terms (compared with Central and Inner London and the South East) how has the residential environment changed (good or bad) in Outer London over the last 25 years and how has this affected its attractiveness as a place to live, work and do business.
- What improvements would bring about the greatest improvements to the quality of life for outer London residents, workers and businesses? How would these bear on the economic objectives of the Commission?
- How could super hubs affect the quality of life in Outer London for residents, workers and businesses?
- How important is the provision of local social infrastructure to the quality of living in Outer London? (schools, health or other specific infrastructure). How does this bear on the economic objectives of the Commission?
- What are the factors that give your or other districts in Outer London a sense of place and community ownership? How will these bear on the economic objectives of the Commission?
- What improvements would you like to see in the quality of the public realm eg open space quality and provision? How will these bear on the economic objectives of the Commission?
Transport
- How would you make the super-hubs you have indicated more generally accessible to residents and workers from across London and outside? What is an acceptable balance between public transport and provision for cars? Will this vary in different parts of Outer London eg in the Thames Gateway relative to West London
- What approach should be taken to traffic management including car parking, congestion and pollution and the bearing these have on climate change? How could this bear specifically on super-hubs, and more generally across Outer London if employment growth rose above historic trends and travel patterns changed as Outer London became a more attractive place to work?
- Where traffic demand exceeds capacity in outer London, what tools would be most effective for smoothing traffic around town centres (and managing crowding) in addition to or where there is not scope for infrastructure improvements?
- Extensive radial public transport networks already exist to town centres and some super-hubs, what needs to change to make them the modes of choice?
- The development of super-hubs is likely to require public transport improvements to make them more accessible. That in turn is likely to need residential densities to be optimised around and within the super-hubs to justify the necessary transport investment. Is this trade-off acceptable to secure better public transport access and employment growth and is there a particular, economically viable, balance to be struck between residential intensification, transport investment and employment growth?
- Do super-hubs need to evolve into ‘hub and spoke’ networks serving the neighbouring areas to make the most of opportunities for local residents? How could a hub and spoke network service the more geographically extensive labour markets required to support super-hubs (and provide accessible opportunities to more workers within and outside London)? If these networks are road based systems, should options for further demand management be considered?
- More generally, what are the key destinations/services which people in Outer London want access to?
- How important is the provision of local transport infrastructure to the quality of living in outer London? How does this bear on the economy of outer London?