Mayor unveils proposals for new London opportunity areas

The Mayor launched a consultation on alterations to the London Plan yesterday. He has proposed to designate the Old Kent corridor and Canada Water in Southwark, Bromley Town Centre and Harrow and Wealdstone as new opportunity areas to help boost regeneration in the capital.

The consultation document also confirms the target of building 42,000 homes per year set out in the draft Housing Strategy for London published in November. The target is a 10,000 increase compared to the figure set out in the 2011 version of the London Plan, however, it still falls below the estimated annual need of 49,000 homes.

The Mayor also proposed to designate Old Oak Common, which currently falls within the Royal Park opportunity area, as an opportunity area in its own right. He said that this would help the area "reap the enormous benefits" of plans to build a High Speed 2 hub and Crossrail station and create up to 24,000 new homes and 50,000 jobs.

“London is the greatest place in the world in which to live, work and do business," said Johnson in a statement. "As the capital continues to flourish over the next few years, we will need to create over half a million new jobs and a million more people will have to be housed. That’s why it is crucial that we plan strategically for the future, to ensure we have a cleaner, greener, safer city that abounds opportunity, talent and economic activity.”

The consultation is open for responses until 10 April. A public examination on the amendments to the plan will be carried out later in the year and the revisions are likely to be adopted in 2015, the statement said.