The Greater London Authority's 2004 London Plan

T. S. Eliot wrote that ' The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the right deed for the wrong reason.' A study of London open space planning after 1944 leads to a different conclusion: '' The last temptation is the greatest treason: to do the wrong deed for the right reason'.

The GLA coordinates land use planning across the whole of Greater London and produces a strategic plan; the "London Plan". The 32 London Borough councils are legally bound to comply with the plan and the mayor can over-ride planning decisions made by the Boroughs if they are against the interests of London as a whole. The aims of the plan were stated as 'growth, equity and sustainable development':

• strong, diverse long term economic growth
• social inclusivity to give all Londoners the opportunity to share in London’s future success
• fundamental improvements in London’s environment and use of resources

The third of these aims take the place of the 1943 objective to provide 'Adequate open space for both recreation and rest is a vital factor in maintaining and improving the health of the people'.

Objective 6 sets out the 2004 aim in more detail: 'To make London a more attractive, well-designed and green city' by:

• Provide the spatial framework to achieve better use of resources and improvements to the environment in support of the Mayor’s environmental strategies.
• Promote a range of actions to achieve the wider environmental sustainability of a growing London, including radical improvements in the use of energy, the treatment of waste, the reduction of noise pollution, the improvement of air quality and the promotion of biodiversity.
• Address issues of climate change and ensure that the environmental impact of a growing London does not contribute to global warming.
• Deal with flood risk and water resource issues at an early stage, especially in the Thames Gateway region.
• Encourage and support the development of green industries (see also Chapter 3, Part B).
• Make the fullest and most sustainable use of resources including land, water, energy and construction materials.
• Protect and enhance the quality of the townscape, through historic conservation and enhancing the public realm, open spaces and waterways, and create new resources, recognising their increased importance in a compact city

There are also two thematic policies which have a particular spatial impact and are addressed in other specific parts of this plan:

• Open spaces – see Chapter 3, Part D ('Enjoying London')
• The Blue Ribbon Network – see Chapter 4, Part C.

Policy 3C.20 Improving conditions for walking
UDP policies should:

• ensure that safe, convenient, accessible and direct pedestrian access is provided from new developments to public transport nodes and key land uses, taking account of the need to connect people to jobs, to town centres and to schools
• identify, complete and promote high quality walking routes including the six strategic walking routes identified in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy
• ensure that Thames-side developments incorporate provision for a riverside walkway in accordance with Countryside Agency standards
• ensure that the pedestrian environment is accessible to disabled people
• take account of measures set out in the TfL Walking Plan for London
• improve the safety and convenience of pedestrian routes to school.

Policy 3C.21 Improving conditions for cycling

UDP policies should:

• identify and implement high quality, direct, cycling routes, where possible segregated from motorised traffic, giving access to public transport nodes, town centres and key land uses
• ensure that routes are segregated from pedestrians as far as practicable, but are not isolated
• identify, complete and promote the relevant sections of the London Cycle Network Plus, and other cycling routes
• take account of measures identified in the TfL Cycling Action Plan
• encourage provision of sufficient, secure cycle parking facilities within developments.

3.221 London’s distinctive network of open spaces, from the Green Belt to local play spaces, should be strongly protected, made more accessible and enhanced. As the use of land becomes more intense, the contribution of open space to physical and psychological health, to biodiversity and to the relatively open character of the city will become even more important.

Chapter 3, Part D 4 deals with ' Improving London’s open environment'

It begins with a re-iteration of the old policies:

• remedy open space deficiencies (based on the outmoded concept of open space standards)
• protect the Green Belt, Metropolitan Open Land and other open spaces
• establish a hierarchy of open spaces of different size
• establish Green Chains
• promote biodiversity

These are the GLC policies and one can understant their sentimental appeal to the mayor. But there are also some new and welcome elements in the 2004 spatial strategy:

• Civic spaces, such as squares, piazzas and market squares also form part of the open space network (3.245)
• The Mayor’s draft London Ambient Noise Strategy introduced the concept of Areas of Relative Tranquillity.(3.245)
• The Mayor will and boroughs should seek to encourage and support a thriving agricultural sector in London.
• Individual borough plans (UDPs) should include Open Space Strategies to protect, create and enhance all types of open space in their area.

Policy 3D.10 Open space provision in UDPs UDP policies should:

• identify broad areas of public open space deficiency and priorities for addressing them on the basis of audits carried out as part of an open space strategy, and using the open space hierarchy set out in Table 3D.1 as a starting point
• ensure that future open space needs are considered in planning policies for Opportunity Areas and other areas of growth and change in their area
• encourage functional and physical linkages within the network of open spaces and to the wider public realm, improve accessibility for all throughout the network and create new links based on local and strategic need
• identify, promote and protect Green Corridors and Green Chains and include appropriate designations and policies for the protection of local open spaces that are of value, or have the potential to be of value, to local communities.

 

4C the Blue Ribbon Network replaces the London parts of RPG3b/9b (Strategic Planning Guidance for the River Thames). It includes the Thames, the canal network, the other tributaries, rivers and streams within London and London’s open water spaces such as docks, reservoirs and lakes. It includes culverted (or covered over) parts of rivers, canals or streams.

To make London a better city for people to live in, policies should protect and enhance the Blue Ribbon Network as part of the public realm contributing to London’s open space network.

Policy 4C.3 The natural value of the Blue Ribbon Network The Mayor will, and boroughs should, protect and enhance the biodiversity of the Blue Ribbon Network by:

• resisting development that results in a net loss of biodiversity
• designing new waterside developments in ways that increase habitat value
• allowing development into the water space only where it serves a water-dependent purpose or is a truly exceptional case which adds to London’s world city status
• taking opportunities to open culverts and naturalise river channels
• protecting the value of the foreshore of the River Thames.

Policy 4C.8 Sustainable drainage
The Mayor will, and boroughs should, seek to ensure that surface water run-off is managed as close to its source as possible. The use of sustainable urban drainage systems should be promoted for development unless there are practical reasons for not doing so. Such reasons may include the local ground conditions or density of development. In such cases, the developer should seek to manage as much run-off as possible on site and explore sustainable methods of managing the remainder as close as possible to the site.