Nicky Gavron AM: Sir Edward, thank you very much for that introduction. The big headline out of this Plan is that the Mayor’s target is not high enough to meet the housing that London needs. It does not even take the target that is given in his own evidence. We have a housing crisis. Why are you content to move forward with a Plan that does not meet London’s housing need?
Tom Copley AM: I want to move on to talk about affordable housing. Would a London-wide percentage target for affordable housing be more effective at delivering the homes that Londoners need the most?
Navin Shah AM: Good morning, Sir Edward. In your introduction, you made a reference to the long-term future. Can we look at that in the context of safeguarding London’s skyline? Can you tell me, please, what policies in the altered London Plan could be used to ensure that in the short and long term we do not end up with out-of-character buildings like 1 Merchant Square popping up across London?
Richard Tracey AM: Thank you, Chairman. Could I just pursue you a little further on the line of questioning you were receiving from Steve O’Connell about parking in outer London? Are you specifically delineating what is ‘outer London’ and what is ‘inner London’? What bothers me is that sometimes it seems that TfL, when commenting on planning applications, tries to impose the rather stricter inner London format on outer London boroughs. As you said, we do definitely need more scope for residential parking in outer London.
Murad Qureshi AM: Sir Edward, can I bring up the particular issue of subterranean basement developments? Last night I heard from residents of Bayswater that they have had 15 of these developments in the last 18 months. It has caused sinkholes, flooding and structural damage to properties. It is a problem not only in the City of Westminster but in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in Hammersmith and Fulham and I understand in other boroughs in north London as well. We also unanimously passed a motion in March proposing that some limits should be made on these excessive...
That is very welcome. Will you actually write that into the contracts, and has it already been written into those contracts that have already been let?
Again, will there be independent monitoring, as I mentioned earlier with the sustainability issues, of contracts, compliance, and such like to ensure that it does happen, and it is actually delivered?