Mayor Ken Livingstone has given the go-ahead to narrow protected views of St Pauls Cathedral and the Houses of Parliament to make way for 5m sq ft of office development.
The mayors 402-page draft London Plan, published today, proposed new viewing corridors that will be “narrower than the existing strategic views” from Primrose Hill, Kenwood House and Alexandra Palace.
The review follows a submission in February from Legal & General to the Greater London Assembly, which said that cutting back the viewing corridors to St Pauls from 300m to 150m would clear the way for five mid-rise developments of around 1m sq ft each.
The sites that would benefit include: L&Gs own Bucklersbury House at 11 Queen Victoria Street; 23 Walbrook, owned by Minerva; Land Securities 26 Old Bailey; BT Centre at 81 Newgate Street; and Goldman Sachs 70 Farringdon Street.
The mayors new guidance will also re-examine areas in the backdrop of St Pauls, where large developments are not permitted.
See Saturday’s Estates Gazette for the full version of this story.
EGi News 21/06/02
