Mayor of London consults on City Fringe planning framework

The draft City Fringe Opportunity Area Planning Framework  has proposed dividing an area covering parts of Islington, Hackney and Tower Hamlets into "core growth areas", with new employment workspace and mixed-use developments, and a "hinterland" in which development is expected to be "more residential in nature".

In an "inner core" area, centred on the Old Street roundabout in Shoreditch, the Framework would seek to support an increase in employment floorspace to accommodate the growing Tech City cluster of technological companies. The retention of employment floorspace would also be encouraged in a surrounding "outer core" area, in which mixed-use schemes would be expected to provide enough office space to enable the future expansion of the Tech City cluster.

The Framework would require applicants for development in the core areas to provide affordable workspace, including flexible space and space suitable for use by micro and small businesses, and to provide assurances that workspace would not be converted to another use following construction. It would also seek to protect existing secondary office space in the Shoreditch East and Spitalfields areas and along a stretch of the Regents Canal to the east of Angel.

In both the core growth areas and the residential hinterland, the Framework would seek to maintain the "vibrant, exciting mix of uses" existing in the City Fringe. It would encourage the temporary and "pop-up" use of vacant buildings and sites, require developers to include affordable units within any retail developments and aim to support the provision of public houses at viable sites previously in public house use.

The draft document also included more detailed strategies for districts such as Old Street, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, and Hackney Central, including provision for tall landmark buildings at Old Street roundabout and the Bishopsgate Goodsyard development area and the concentration of retail development along existing high streets.

"The City Fringe is among London's most significant areas for economic growth, whilst also containing some of the capital's most deprived neighbourhoods," said Johnson in the foreword to the draft document. "The growth of Tech City represents a massive opportunity for London to establish itself as the tech capital of Europe, whilst fuelling a growth engine that can drive regeneration in inner east London."

The consultation is open until 15 February.