Plan to deliver tens of thousands of new homes and jobs in the capital through the creation of new opportunity areas have been announced by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson today (Wednesday, January 15).
The Mayor wants to create four new opportunity areas in the London boroughs of Southwark, Bromley and Harrow to help boost regeneration and potentially deliver 11,100 new homes and 8,000 new jobs.
The proposals are part of a package of changes the Mayor has drawn up to his 2011 London Plan, the document that sets out the future development of the city. Known as the Further Alterations to the London Plan, the aim is to update the document in line with the Mayor’s 2020 Vision for the capital and address the key issues arising from an unprecedented population boom that will see London become the first city in Europe to be home to ten million people by 2030.
Proposed alterations include:
• Designating the Old Kent Road corridor*, Bromley Town Centre, Canada Water and Harrow and Wealdstone as new opportunity areas, potentially creating a total of 11,100 new homes and 8,000 new jobs. Opportunity Areas are London’s main locations for new development over the next 25 years with significant capacity for new housing, commercial and other uses supported by existing or planned improvements to public transport. By establishing Opportunity Areas, and working closely with London boroughs and partner agencies, the Mayor will be best able to deliver significant social and economic regeneration.
• Ensuring that Old Oak Common can reap the enormous benefits of plans to build a ‘super hub’ High Speed 2 (HS2) and Crossrail station. Old Oak Common currently falls within the Park Royal opportunity area. The Further Alterations to the London Plan propose that it becomes an opportunity area in its own right in order to help transform the area into a thriving new district with up to 24,000 new homes and 50,000 jobs.**
• Promoting a strategic forward-looking approach to the delivery of new electricity infrastructure to accommodate London’s growing demand. Working with Government, regulators, Distribution Network Operators, developers and other stakeholders to encourage the allocation of land and investment to support new substations.
• Committing to nurture the growing digital-creative cluster at Tech City in Shoreditch so that it becomes a business hub of major international significance.
• Exploring the potential for a medical research cluster at Whitechapel associated with the Queen Mary University London.
• Funding through the Mayor’s Vision for Cycling for the transformation of up to four outer London borough town centres into cycle friendly mini-Hollands. These areas will benefit from very high levels of spending concentrated on relatively small areas to make them, over time, into places every bit as cycle-friendly as their Dutch equivalents.
• Creating cycling Quietways across London - routes aimed at those who would like to cycle, but are put off by having to do it on busy roads.
• Improving cycle parking quantity, quality and locations across London.
• Protecting the small offices which add so much to the vibrant character of the capital’s Central Activities Zone.
• Supporting the development of new energy from waste facilities by introducing a minimum CO2 performance, known as the carbon intensity floor (CIF), for technologies generating energy from London’s non-recyclable waste. This CIF will send a clear signal to the market to invest in more efficient waste facilities that generate both heat and power for Londoners and significantly cut Co2 emissions. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson said: “London is the greatest place in the world in which to live, work and do business. As the capital continues to flourish over the next few years, we will need to create over half a million new jobs and a million more people will have to be housed. That’s why it is crucial that we plan strategically for the future, to ensure we have a cleaner, greener, safer city that abounds opportunity, talent and economic activity.”
Further Alterations to the London Plan also confirms figures set out in the Housing Strategy, launched by the Mayor last November, that London has the capacity to build 42,000 homes a year. The Mayor is exploring how this potential could be expanded through town centre and opportunity area intensification. This would also help to address London’s estimated need of 49,000 new homes a year.
The potential to construct 42,000 homes a year is an increase of 10,000 from the 2011 London Plan. It has been developed through negotiations between the Mayor of London’s Office and local councils that have identified a third more developable land than in the 2011 London Plan.
The Further Alterations to the London Plan are now open to a 12 week public consultation, to be followed by a public examination later this year, and are likely to be adopted by mid 2015.
To read the Further Alterations to the London Plan and take part in the consultation visit /priorities/planning/london-plan/further-alterations
Notes to editors
The London Plan was published in 2011 and is the city’s overall strategic plan. It sets out an integrated economic, environmental, transport and social framework for the development of London. Its policies guide decisions on planning applications by councils and the Mayor.
*One of the proposals for the Bakerloo line extension is via Old Kent Road which would increase the potential of this proposed Opportunity Area to deliver new homes and jobs.
**The Mayor recently announced that he will look to set up a Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) for Old Oak Common to maximise the enormous benefits of the planned regeneration of the area. The MDC will unlock the regeneration potential in a targeted approach to emulate the success of the London Legacy Development Corporation that continues to lead the post-Olympic regeneration of Stratford.
The Mayor’s Vision for Cycling sets out his plans to invest £913m in cycling over the next decade. As part of this, eight boroughs have been shortlisted for the Mayor’s £100 million "mini-Holland" funding. The shortlisted boroughs are Bexley, Ealing, Enfield, Kingston, Merton, Newham, Richmond and Waltham Forest. Up to four successful boroughs will benefit from a share of the funding and will be announced shortly.
The Mayor recently published plans for a Central London Grid – a massive network of fully-segregated main road cycle routes and back-street 'Quietway' cycle routes that will make cycling in Zone 1 easier and less intimidating. The first ‘Quietways’ outside central London will be announced shortly.
The Further Alterations to the London Plan build on the Revised Early Minor Alterations to the London Plan published in 2013 and the Early Minor Alterations to the London Plan published in November 2011.
The Mayor’s 2020 Vision can be read at www.london.gov.uk/london2020vision.com Opportunity area locations can be found here: http://www.london.gov.uk/priorities/planning/opportunity-areas/location-londons-opportunity-and-intensification-areas-0