Strategic planning decisions letter to the Mayor

The Mayor has the power to ‘call in’ planning applications that are of ‘potential strategic importance’ to London. The way the Mayor’s office reviews and decides on planning applications has not changed since the previous administration.

The London Assembly Planning Committee has made recommendations on how the process can be improved, including:

• The Mayor should disclose the identities of anyone that has lobbied for and against a call-in, including any informal requests.
• For all outstanding and future call-ins, the Mayor must be clearer on how the three specific threshold policy tests for call-in have been applied.