WPA submitted its response to the Reg 19 version of the draft City Plan earlier today. We welcome the plan’s recognition of Westminster’s role at the heart of London, a leading global city. We support its ambitious jobs and office floorspace targets, to optimise the economic potential of the area and reverse the recent decline in office space.
We also support the City Council’s overarching ambition to deliver more intermediate and affordable homes in Westminster. Mixed communities make a great City. The draft plan’s stated ambition to exceed the London Plan’s targets on housing delivery is to be applauded.
However, we are concerned that there are specific policy proposals included in the current draft which would undermine the City Council’s own stated ambitions. We have set these out in detail in our analysis, which also include a visualisation of existing building heights across Westminster.
We look forward to working with the City Council and the Planning Inspector during the Examination in Public to address these concerns, with a view to ensuring that the final plan has the full confidence of the property industry and is able to deliver on the City Council’s key objectives.
Read our response here.
