The Government has stepped in to stop Sadiq Khan’s damaging London Plan which threatened the green belt, de-prioritised family homes, and would fail to meet the housing needs of London.
In a damning letter from the Secretary of State for Housing, Robert Jenrick MP, ordered the Mayor to amend his draft London Plan and criticised Khan’s failure to deliver more homes across the capital.
The Secretary of State has ordered the Mayor to:
Abandon the “no net loss” of industrial land policy which would restrict house building on large swathes of brownfield land.
Amend the London Plan to recognise “the need for additional family housing”.
Reinforce the national protections for the green belt, rejecting the Planning Inspectorate's call for the green belt to be reviewed.
The Government’s intervention follows a campaign led by Orpington MP Gareth Bacon to stop Sadiq Khan’s draft London Plan in its tracks.
Gareth Bacon MP welcomed the Government’s decision saying: “The Mayor’s draft London Plan would have had disastrous consequences for Orpington and outer London. I am pleased that Robert Jenrick MP listened to myself and other London MPs and stepped in to stop Sadiq Khan in his tracks.
“I promised to fight the Planning Inspectorate's recommendation to review the green belt if I was elected and I am pleased that the Government has rejected it today. Outer London’s green belt protects our environment, safeguards the unique nature of Orpington and the surrounding villages, and prevents unchecked urban sprawl. It must be protected.
"We need a brownfield first approach to housing otherwise, we risk untold damage to our communities and the environment. Khan's reckless proposal would, coupled with the Planning Inspectorate’s recommendation, would have threatened the green belt and prevented thousands of new homes being developed. That’s why I am pleased Sadiq Khan’s effective ban on building on brownfield land has been rejected.
“London desperately needs new homes, but we need the right homes, in the right places, with the proper infrastructure. Sadiq Khan’s damaging house building plans would have wrecked communities like Orpington’s and failed to deliver the family homes our city needs.”