Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is planning to introduce a framework to determine how much “green infrastructure” developers should be required to deliver in new buildings.
Ahead of the release of the draft London Plan on Wednesday, Khan has unveiled proposals to make infrastructure such as street trees, green roofs, green walls and rain gardens, an integral part of new developments, rather than an “add on”.
They will be judged against a number of criteria, including promoting wellbeing, enhancing biodiversity and improving air and water quality.
Khan has also strengthened his commitment to protect the green belt and pledged to make more than half of the capital green by 2050.
The commitment means, as is the case now, a planning application which involves building on the green belt will be refused by the mayor if it does not meet strict rules on what is appropriate, such as replacing existing buildings with new ones of a similar scale or the provision of new agricultural buildings.
The draft plan, which will be subject to consultation, will be the first substantial revision of the spatial development strategy since 2011.
Khan said he will also instruct his City Hall team to review and update existing planning guidelines on the “All London Green Grid” – London’s strategic green infrastructure framework – to help boroughs to prepare their own local green infrastructure strategies.
The draft London Plan will strengthen protections for metropolitan open land, which is a network of strategic, designated green spaces in the capital that make up a significant part of London’s existing green infrastructure.
The plan will also encourage boroughs to protect existing allotments and provide space for community gardening, including growing food, in new developments.
Khan is planning to encourage higher density residential development around town centres and transport nodes by scrapping the density matrix, as revealed by EG last month.
The mayor has also consulted on introducing new measures to strengthen the protection of strategic industrial land. First reported in EG in July, the policy is expected to be one of the most controversial in the plan as it could threaten large proposed developments such as Cain Hoy Enterprises and Galliard Homes’ £500m residential-led development at Peruvian Wharf, E16.
Khan said: “When I became mayor I made it clear that delivering more of the genuinely affordable housing that Londoners so urgently need would be one of my top priorities.
“London needs 66,000 new homes every year to meet its increasing need and put right years of underinvestment. But development must not be done at any cost: the green belt is the lungs of the capital and must be protected.
“I firmly believe we can build the homes Londoners need without sacrificing the green belt. This will mean more development on brownfield land, town centres becoming denser, incorporating more green infrastructure in our streets and developments and being more creative with how we develop the hundreds of small sites across the capital.
“Since I took office I have refused a number of developments which would have caused harm to the green belt. With my new London Plan I am sending a clear message to developers that building on or near the green belt must respect and protect this vital natural resource.”
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