Liberal Democrat leader Lynne Featherstone has extracted a key promise from London Mayor Ken Livingstone in the fight against backland developments in the borough. The promise follows a meeting that Ms Featherstone called with the Mayor on Friday 1st November.

The Mayor’s London Plan and the requirement for more desperately needed housing is being used to justify the squashing of new developments into small sites, particularly in the Hornsey, Muswell Hill and Crouch End area.

However, following his meeting with Ms Featherstone, Mayor Livingstone has agreed to write to Haringey Council pointing out that his London Plan should not be used to justify inappropriate developments. Whilst the local authority must remain the ultimate judge in these planning applications, in like with their Unitary Development Plan (UDP), the London Plan is about planned intensification of housing density around transport hubs, not carte blanche for over or inappropriate development.

The Mayor was also sufficiently worried about the poor quality of the development being proposed between Priory Avenue, Clovelly Road and Linzee Road that he asked world-renowned architect Richard Rogers to advise on the poor design in applications such as this one.

Lynne Featherstone comments:

“We all want to see more housing – but the Mayor’s London Plan must not be used by Haringey Council or developers as an excuse to build anything anywhere.

“Haringey needs to think very carefully before it grants planning permission for any of the backland sites. This isn’t what the Mayor meant and it won’t solve the social housing crisis.”