Mayor to launch full review of the London plan

The decision follows a consultation in July and the publication of ‘Planning for a Better London’, which set out his intentions to ‘improve the quality of life for Londoners through the capital’s planning system and, specifically, through revising the London Plan’.

The consultation supported a full review of the London Plan, rather than making successive alterations to the existing one.

Johnson also proposes to establish an annual London Planning Convention to provide planning professionals with the opportunity to help make improvements to the capital’s planning system. He said he is seeking a more collaborative approach to planning in the capital.

Other key points include:

• The need for a shorter, more concise, plan and a reduction in the amount of supplementary planning guidance produced, which would be avoided by a full review
• The scrapping of the prescriptive 50% affordable housing target in the current plan
• The need for new quality standards in house building
• The need for the plan to focus more strongly on the development of a diverse economy to Foster the growth of all types and sizes of enterprises, by providing the kinds of Workspace they need.

Johnson said: ‘In the current economic climate it is essential that we get the London Plan right now so that it is ready to help London grow and strengthen its status as a world-beating city when the economic upturn arrives.

'The new policies that will form the capital’s planning framework for the next decade and beyond must not only make London an even better place to live and work in but must support all the sectors that contribute to the capital’s ever evolving economy.’