Give Londoners the power to protect markets as community assets

Despite some “pioneering” work^[1] from the Mayor to take social value into account in planning and regeneration policy, a London Assembly report finds that existing social value is still too often neglected when markets and arches are redeveloped.
 
The London Assembly Planning and Regeneration Committee report – Social value in planning and regeneration: Knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing – says “irreversible damage to communities” is being caused by redevelopment in the capital.
 
The report recommends that the Mayor’s next London Plan must ensure community voices are heard in planning decisions, and that new policies are needed to “to protect long-standing businesses that deliver high social value”.
 
Recommendations in the report include:

• The next London Plan should include a social value policy, which sets out how community voices are heard in planning decisions.
• The Greater London Authority (GLA) should develop a toolkit for local authorities to protect and maximise social value through planning and regeneration
• The next London Plan should allow communities to designate markets which contribute social value as a protected asset.
• Places for London should implement an official ‘right to return policy’ so that businesses displaced as a result of arch regeneration can return to their workspace. 

Chair of the London Assembly Planning and Regeneration Committee, Andrew Boff AM, said:
 
“Regenerating London’s markets and arches can create vital new space for communities to socialise, innovate, learn and grow. 
 
“But too often, the social value of these places is being lost or destroyed when businesses are forced to relocate or close – and when communities aren’t given enough of a say in redevelopment.
 
“These consequences all too often have a disproportionate impact on low-income, marginalised and minority communities.
 
“Our recommendations can help the Mayor place Londoners’ voices at the heart of planning decisions affecting some of their most valuable spaces, protecting and increasing the value that markets and arches provide to the communities they serve.”