Sadiq Khan ‘manufactured’ problem in Oxford Street plans, community advocate claims
By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter
Sadiq Khan “artificially included” the London borough of Camden into his plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street to “manufacture” a problem, a community advocate has claimed.
Tim Lord, chair of the Soho Society, suggested the Mayor added the borough inside the boundaries of his proposed Mayoral Development Corporation (MDC) to create a sense of a bi-borough issue.
In a meeting at City Hall on Wednesday, Mr Lord said: “You just have to point out Oxford Street isn’t in Camden, is it? Can I just say, obviously the Mayor had read the Localism Act – that’s what he’s taking the powers under – and one of the justifications for an MDC in general, is some bi-borough issue.
“But this is a manufactured bi-borough issue because he’s drawn on an area that artificially includes Camden.”
An MDC is a statutory body set up by metro mayors in England to deliver regeneration schemes. City Hall is carrying out a public consultation on the MDC for Oxford Street.
Consultation documents cite the need for an “aligned decision making process”. One document reads: “The various electoral and decisionmaking cycles across national, regional and local government, NWEC, and significant landowners, mean it is never a good time to coordinate the action required to transform Oxford Street.
“The planning context is also complex and fragmented, with two separate local plans, one draft local plan, one area action plan and three neighbourhood plans across the area. As a result, numerous plans and strategies over the last decade have failed to realise the full potential of Oxford Street.
“The establishment of an MDC would be a key step in changing this and delivering the Mayor’s vision for Oxford Street.”
Mr Lord said the Mayor also made the “tragic mistake” of scrapping Westminster City’s £90million transformation scheme.
He said: “We had a scheme ready to go that everybody agreed with and we’re now going back to another massive uncertainty as to where we’ll end up and that’s what’s going to slow down investment.”
A spokesman for the Mayor of London said they are working closely with businesses, residents and local authorities whilst he consults on proposals to pedestrianise Oxford Street and create a MDC.
He said: “The Mayor encourages everyone to respond to the public consultation he launched in February by May 2.”
Pictured top: Tim Lord speaking at a Greater London Authority Planning and Regeneration Committee hearing into Sadiq Khan’s pedestrianisation plans for Oxford Street (Picture: LDRS)
