Thread by @Andrewwood17

As a result of the @AspireParty & @TH_Labour decision to support the businesses opposed to resident involvement in planning the Mayor is proposing instead "a developmental Masterplan for the Spitalfields and Banglatown area"
What is called a Supplementary Planning Document SPD
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But SPD's cannot introduce new planning policies with the same weight as those now lost from the Neighbourhood Plan (which had material weight in the planning process from July 2021 to last night)
So the planning policies in the area are now less restrictive which means
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developers will find it even easier to get new applications approved
Plus the Mayors wording suggests the new Spitalfields & Banglatown SPD will be housing focussed
But a lot of the development in the area is commercial
But this is what the businesses wanted more freedom to
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redevelop Brick Lane for commercial use & also less affordable workspace in new developments
But I am not convinced that this is what residents actually wanted, they voted for the Neighbourhood Plan
@going4golds asked about this last night (the legal weight of the SPD) &
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was told the Mayor also wanted a refresh of the Local Plan (approved in January 2020, they should be reviewed every 5 years but can take years to do)
A new Local Plan could contain policies with the same weight as the now lost Neighbourhood Plan
But there is a window of
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opportunity for commercial developers now to maximise change in Brick Lane before new SPD written or new Local Plan
Which maybe is what Councillors actually wanted?
Who Brick Lane is for in planning terms is unclear (not for residents clearly) but what is its role?
The current
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Local Plan mainly talks about the economic role of Brick Lane
The Spitalfield Neighbourhood Plan had a vision & a set of policies for the area which took years to formulate working with stakeholders
Will the Mayor/Cllrs put the same amount of effort into its replacement?
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