The Thames Gateway will need 30,000 more homes than the government is planning if it is to be a community in its own right rather than just a satellite of London.
That was the message this week from the agency charged with delivering the massive housebuilding targets for the area.

The government has set a bar of about 59,000 properties for the London portion. But Stephen Joseph, deputy chief executive of the Thames Gateway London Partnership, said at least 90,000 homes were needed to make the vision a reality.

"Local authorities and the Greater London Authority believe that around 90,000 homes in the zone of change should be the ambition. A vision with a lower homes target and excluding Crossrail risks undermining what we're working for.

"There's a real risk of growth that is essentially suburban, with its concomitant growth in car use. London can't take it."

A government commitment to invest in large-scale infrastructure such as the Crossrail public transport project and a new Thames bridge, were also essential, he said.

The partnership wrote to Prescott on 26 August outlining its concerns, and talks continue: a meeting with housing and planning minister Keith Hill is imminent.

Meanwhile, Michael Ward, chief executive of the London Development Agency, accused the government of fighting an internal battle between a desire for sustainable communities and a traditional approach to developing at low cost.

He said the government was risking a "tragic" wasted opportunity.

Source

Housing Today