Mayor Steve Bullock last night ripped up Lewisham's borough-wide planning framework after months of consultation because the officers who wrote it admitted it was not fit for purpose.

The decision to return the unfinished Local Development Framework to the drawing board means at least a year's delay for crucial new policies that would have shaped almost every aspect of the borough. Vital new higher eco-standards for new homes have been stalled as a result, meaning more high-carbon developments will be allowed until the LDF is finished.

It also means the controversial battle over whether to set the affordable housing quota at 35% - Mayor Bullock's preference – or the 50% pushed by the Green Party and the Mayor of London will rage on.
Other issues causing controversy, such as how to develop a policy that protects our threatened pubs, will not be resolved yet.
Last year the council spent months carrying out a detailed public consultation on its draft 'preferred options' LDF, with local amenity societies and businesses making detailed comments.

But on Wednesday 13 February Mayor Bullock approved a costly re-run, with deputy mayor Heidi Alexander having to lead a rewrite of the LDF and then consult the public all over again. The rethink was prompted by severe criticism at the consultation stage from the GLA and the Government Office for London, which said the draft was not specific and local enough, broke a number of regulations, did not provide enough evidence for policies and was likely to be thrown out by the independent inspector at the next stage of the process.

Lewisham Green Party planning spokesman Councillor Dean Walton said:
"This has serious knock-on effects for people in Lewisham. Higher eco-standards for homes are stalled, affordable housing rules are in limbo during a local housing crisis and economic development measures to help jobless residents are still only theory. The one good thing from this is that local people have a second chance to help reshape a plan that simply was not up to the job. In view of the time and effort already put in, an apology from the Deputy Mayor would be appropriate, but I'd also like a guarantee that we'll have the best policies to tackle climate change and Lewisham's housing crisis. "

Notes to Editor
1. Cllr Walton is available on 07880 748 259
2. The Mayor & Cabinet paper advising the Mayor to rewrite and reconsult on the LDF can be found under Item 8 at http://www.lewisham.gov.uk/councilanddemocracy/councilmeetings/mayorandcabinet/meetings/mayor%20and%20cabinet%20-%2013%20february%202008.htm. See para 7 onwards for explanation of the reasons for the decision.