Phil Briscoe - On having a say

By Jon Massey on July 30, 2008 1:01 AM |

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Phil Briscoe is a Conservative councillor for Blackwall and Cubitt Town

Phil Briscoe.jpg

Despite the credit crunch, local planning issues have dominated my council casework recently.

Plans are in for Wood Wharf and Asda and there has been consultation on the Crossrail station and a plan to replace the City Pride with a 63-storey tower, building the affordable housing 1.5miles away at the Island Point site.

On the waterways, plans are back to moor a ferry at West India Pier, and a floating hotel next to Meridian Place.

Add the tower block approval on Prestons Road and the decision to allow the demolition of Robin Hood Gardens, and you see how busy the Isle of Dogs is.

Some of the plans are new but residents’ concerns are not.

Over-development, height, density, lack of car parking and open space are all concerns voiced in relation to planning.

Residents remain sceptical of consultation that is either non-existent or merely ignores the issues raised.

Local residents want to have a meaningful say in the plans that affect their area, and they want to be listened to by both developers and the council.

Boris Johnson stood on a platform of delivering planning decisions through co-operation between the Mayor, local councils and local communities. His recent intervention on plans elsewhere in London shows he is willing to deliver on what he promised.

Planners and developers in this area would do well to take note and ensure the sense of resident defeatism is replaced with a sense of positive engagement.