The Greater London Authority and the Government Office for London have been flexing their respective planning muscles over a regeneration scheme in Merton, south-west London.
The redevelopment of Merton Abbey Mills was called in by the GOL on the same day that Livingstone approved it.
Due to space limitations, Livingstone, Merton council and the developer Countryside Properties had agreed that Countryside would pay the council £3.7m to make up for the inadequate provision of affordable housing on one third of the site.
The GOL felt that the deal merited inspection and called in this aspect of the scheme.
It then approved the scheme without any alterations.
The redevelopment of Merton Abbey Mills was called in the day that Livingstone approved it
A spokesman for Countryside said: "Nothing changed and [the GOL] just reversed their decision. This increases the level of uncertainty, without any shadow of a doubt."
The confusion came at a bad time for London planners, as accusations of favouritism were last week being hurled at mayor Ken Livingstone.
In a scrutiny report into the mayor's planning decisions, the assembly accused Livingstone of allowing developers and architects "privileged access" to planning meetings.
It claimed Livingstone was failing to make the meetings as open as he could and thus excluding ordinary voters and their representatives. The report demands that the mayor make a clear distinction between giving strategic advice to developers and his role in taking statutory planning decisions.
Livingstone responded angrily, calling the assembly's Behind Closed Doors report a "farce".
Source
Housing Today
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