London Plan.html



The geographical scope of the plan is the London region.

The London Plan is a planning document written by the Mayor of London in the United Kingdom and published by the Greater London Authority. The plan was first published in final form on 10 February 2004 and has since been amended.

Mandate

Development must not encroach on green spaces.

The plan replaced the previous strategic planning guidance for London issued by the Secretary of State and known as RPG3. It is a requirement of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that the document is produced and that it deals only with matters that are of strategic importance to Greater London. The plan identifies dozens of areas of Opportunity, which are where the bulk of efforts will be concentrated, with an aim at reducing social deprivation and creating sustainable development The Opportunity Areas will be able to accommodate around 5 000 jobs each or about 2500 homes, or a mixture of the two (The London Plan, GLA,10). The Opportunity Areas will mostly be town centres as opposed to suburban developments in the boroughs, although those are mentioned as important in terms of job growth and quality of life. The Act also requires that the London Plan includes in its scope:

• the health of Londoners,
• equality of opportunity,
• contribution to sustainable development in the United Kingdom.

Objectives

The plan is a spatial development strategy for the Greater London area and has six objectives:

1. To accommodate London’s growth within its boundaries
2. To make London a better city for people to live in
3. To make London a more prosperous city with strong and diverse economic growth
4. To promote social inclusion and tackle deprivation and discrimination
5. To improve London’s accessibility
6. To make London a more attractive, well-designed and green city

which are to be achieved with regard to:

1. The need to promote development without encroaching on public spaces and green belt land
2. The need for integration with existing and planned public transport
3. "Supply side issues" such as commercial floor space, skills and qualifications, reliable and efficient transport and "quality environment"
4. "Spacial priorities" identified as areas of East London that have suffered significant deprivation and degeneration

(GLA, 8)

Sub regions

For the purposes of the plan, London was divided into five sub regions. They were initially the same as the Learning and Skills Council areas set up in 1999:^[1]

Within this scheme the London part of the Thames Gateway zone was entirely contained within the East London sub region. As part of the Further Alterations to the London Plan, the sub-regions were amended to create more sub regions which radiated from the centre to combine inner and outer London boroughs.^[3] The changes are planned to take effect early in 2008, with the publication of the further alterations. These sub-regions are:^[4]

Also identified in the plan is a Central Activities Zone which includes areas with a very high concentration of metropolitan activities.

All activity centres are categorised into two international centres, the West End and Knightsbridge; eleven metropolitan centres such as Bromley, Croydon, Sutton and Romford; 35 major centres such as Brixton, East Ham, Orpington and Woolwich; and 156 district centres such as Hornchurch, Penge, Stoke Newington and Welling. Over 1,200 smaller neighbourhood and local centres are also identified in the plan.

International centres (2)	West End, Knightsbridge	Bromley Croydon Ealing Harrow Hounslow Kingston Ilford Romford Sutton Uxbridge Wood Green West End Knightsbridge
Metropolitan centres (11)	Bromley, Croydon, Ealing, Harrow, Hounslow, Kingston, Ilford, Romford, Sutton, Uxbridge, Wood Green.
Major centres (35)	Angel, Barking, Bexleyheath, Brixton, Camden Town, Canary Wharf, Catford, Chiswick, Clapham Junction, Dalston, East Ham, Edgware, Eltham, Enfield Town, Fulham, Hammersmith, Kensington High Street, King's Road East, Kilburn, Lewisham, Nag's Head, Orpington, Peckham, Putney, Richmond, Queensway/Westbourne Grove, Southall, Stratford, Streatham, Tooting, Walthamstow, Wandsworth, Wembley, Wimbledon, Woolwich
District centres (156)
Neighbourhood and local centres (1,200)

Alterations

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Early amendments

Draft amendments were made to the London Plan covering housing provision targets, waste and minerals in October 2005. They will form part of the plan from June 2006 after public examination.

Further alterations

Consultation took place between 30 May 2006 and 21 July 2006 for further alterations to the plan which were based on the Statement of Intent to Review the London Plan published in December 2005. The review had ten themes:

• Climate change
• London as a world city
• The London Economy
• Housing
• Tackling social exclusion
• Transport
• London’s geography: the sub-regions and inter-regions
• London’s suburbs
• Liveability (including safety, security and open spaces)
• The 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

See also

• Blue Ribbon Network - policy for London's waterways

References

External links

• London Plan - GLA microsite
• The London Plan (consolidated with changes since 2004) (PDF)