Andrew Boff, newly installed as Leader of the London Assembly following last month’s local elections, has pledged his support for the Listen to Locals campaign in a recent interview on planning and regeneration in London.
Andrew, also Chair of the GLA Planning & Regeneration Committee co-chaired by the Green Party leader Sian Berry, said he’s looking forward to talking with Listen to Locals “because they believe in quality homes being built to address London’s needs and while detractors call them NIMBYs and label them as selfish and uncaring ….in fact they are concerned residents who are worried that they’re being ignored and the types of housing being built in their communities are either wildly out of character with the area or simply don’t address local housing need… their campaign is about building the homes that Londoners want and listening to the people is vital.”
Planners, developers and community groups across London must now navigate what has effectively become a three-tiered system of rules and guidelines for building in and redeveloping local communities – soon-to-be-reformed national law, the London plan and local plans. Within this structure Andrew is adamant that lessons from the pandemic must be incorporated into new plans, particularly when it comes to discussion on density and height, something that concerns most Londoners on proposed developments.
To date too many tower blocks have been proposed to meet density standards and housing targets in London, but Andrew believes that “It is a fiction that you can’t get density without height,” , referencing the south London community of BedZED. He cites the strength of cross-party consensus in the Assembly about this. “The trouble is, the mayor is not listening to the voice of Londoners. As Chair of the London Assembly, I’m gonna make him listen”.
Listen to the full interview here
