The London Plan
The London Plan is the Mayor of London's strategic plan for the development and growth of Greater London. It sets out policies to manage the key planning issues facing London as a whole, such as where new houses, shops and industry should be located, and how to improve the transport system and protect and improve London's most important parks and open spaces.
The London Plan lists its main purposes as:
- setting out an integrated social, economic and environmental framework for the future development of London, looking forward 15–20 years;
- integrating the physical and geographic dimensions of the Mayor's other strategies, including broad locations for change and providing a framework for land use management and development, which is strongly linked to improvements in infrastructure, especially transport;
- providing the Londonwide context within which individual boroughs must set their local planning policies;
- setting the policy framework for the Mayor's involvement in major planning decisions in London;
- setting out proposals for implementation and funding; and
- being London's response to European guidance on spatial planning.
Under the provisions of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 every London borough's development plan consists of:
This means that the council, when determining planning applications, needs to have regard to the policies of the London Plan, in addition to its own Unitary Development Plan. Lambeth's local development plan must also be in general conformity with the London Plan to make sure that the council's policies are broadly consistent with the Mayor's overall vision and policies for Greater London.
The first version of the London Plan was published in 2004. Since then the Mayor has undertaken a review of the document, and following a period of consultation and a public inquiry he published alterations in December 2006 relating to housing provision targets, waste and minerals policies. Further alterations to the London Plan are proposed during 2007.