22 Jan 2014, 3:56 pm
“London is growing at an unprecedented rate and it is absolutely vital that we get on with the important work of building thousands of new homes as quickly as we can," said Johnson. "By taking over this application it should be possible to speed up the decision making process. My team will be working closely with the local authorities and Royal Mail without further delay.”
Planning law expert Richard Ford of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said: "The Mayor's appetite for Mayoral call-ins is growing. Given the cross-borough issues and associated delays in this case, this is understandable, but we will need to keep monitoring carefully the application of the Mayoral call-in criteria".
The scheme is for 700 mainly private homes, as well as shops, offices, restaurants and public space. If the Mayor had not called in the planning decision then the decision would have rested with Islington and Camden councils’ planning committees, who were expected to reject the scheme on the grounds of insufficient social housing.
