1 March 2018

NEWS FROM THE SECRETARY - Draft New London Plan

1. Members may like to read the letter that the London Green Belt Council wrote to the Mayor of London about his Draft New London Plan.

The letter that I wrote today to the Mayor on behalf of our Association said :

This is in support of the recent submission (19 February) of the London Green Belt Council, of which our association is a member.

A key objective of our Constitution is to protect London's Green Belt, particularly that part here in the London Borough of Bexley, and so we wholeheartedly welcome the Plan's strong commitment to its protection.

We particularly welcome what the Plan says about derelict and untidy parts of the Green Belt, ie that this is an unacceptable reason to allow development to take place. The 'derelict site' argument is one Bexley Council has used twice in recent years in response to planning applications to build on our Green Belt. We lost in one case, but successfully opposed the most recent when we were supported by Bexley's planning committee, who refused to accept the planning officer's Recommendation, which was largely based on his argument that the site was an untidy one.

2. Members may also like to see the Introduction to The All-Party Parliamentary Group for London's Green Belt, which can be read here.

Jean Gammons
Secretary