Preface

The Relationship between the Lewisham Unitary Development Plan
and the London Plan

This note is an information item intended to explain the relationship of the policies in the London Plan to the Unitary Development Plan. It does not form part of the Unitary Development Plan.

The London Plan (LP) is the name the Mayor of London has given to his Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) for London. The LP is the strategic planning document for London and was published on 10th February 2004. The Mayor is under a legal duty to produce a SDS and keep it under review. The Greater London Authority Act 1999 (GLA Act) requires that the London Plan deals only with matters that are of strategic importance to Greater London. The content of the LP is set out in government guidance, Circular 1/2000. In addition the GLA Act requires that the LP takes account of three crosscutting themes: the health of Londoners; equality of opportunity and sustainable development.

The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 requires that the borough shall not adopt its UDP unless it is in general conformity with the LP. The law requires the borough to seek an opinion from the Mayor on the issue of general conformity at the time of 1st deposit draft UDP. The Lewisham replacement UDP had passed this stage and reached the final stage of advertising post inquiry modifications when the Mayor published the LP. It was therefore impossible to follow the process for dealing with general conformity at the time prescribed. The replacement UDP had been informed by the draft LP and the GLA had made a number of representations to the Revised Deposit Draft UDP. These were either dealt with by agreement or considered by the inspector at the Public Inquiry and included as subsequent modifications to the UDP.

The Mayor for London wrote to the Council on 17 March 2004 to express his ‘opinion’ that the Lewisham UDP was not in general conformity with the LP. The issues that concerned the Mayor related to areas of housing policy, car parking standards, policies relating to Convoys Wharf, Waste and renewable energy. The Council has considered the Mayors ‘opinion’ and does not agree with the conclusion. In the opinion of the Council the replacement UDP is in general conformity with the LP. The Council therefore adopted the replacement UDP on 17th July 2004.

Several of the policies of the London Plan require publication of further guidance or research for their full implementation. The Council has therefore agreed that a priority matter in the preparation of the new Local Development Framework will involve a more detailed consideration of the London Plan policies. The Local Development Framework will be prepared under new planning legislation and will replace the Unitary Development Plan as the statutory development plan.

The Council recognizes that when published, the LP became an important consideration in the determination of planning applications, particularly those that are strategic and are referred by the borough to the Mayor. The Council will therefore give the proper consideration and apply the appropriate weight to the LP policies when considering planning applications.