Planning Islington’s future: consultation on the draft local plan (Regulation 18 stage)

The council is preparing a new Local Plan for Islington, which sets out a range of planning policies that developers seeking planning permission will need to meet in the future. The council is interested in your thoughts on the draft documents.

The Local Plan will cover the period 2020-2035 and will help the council to ensure that the development of the borough meets local priorities and delivers maximum benefits for residents and businesses over this period. It is necessary to create a new plan to take into account the changes in the borough – both now and in the future – in addition to changes across London, new priorities and the latest evidence on key issues, such as affordable housing.

The council’s main priorities for a new Local Plan include:

• Deliver more high-quality and genuinely affordable homes: at least 50% of new homes must be genuinely affordable and be built to high-quality standards, including meeting minimum space and accessibility standards and providing private outdoor space.
• Create a thriving, inclusive local economy: all new office developments will need to provide at least 10% of floorspace as affordable workspace, which is let by local businesses at low rents. The plan sets out where in the borough new workspaces should be provided to create more local job opportunities; it will also protect town centres and ensure they can adapt to meet the evolving needs and shopping habits in the borough; and restricts betting shops and hot food takeaways to prevent harmful impacts.
• Protect Islington’s environment and character: Islington is already very built up and we need to make best use of all available space. We are giving affordable homes priority but don’t want to build over any precious green spaces. The plan restricts the location and height of tall buildings and ensures that all new buildings meet certain sustainability standards to protect against climate change.

The council is seeking your feedback on the following three documents that are available to download from the bottom of the page. The consultation will run from 20 November 2018 to 14 January 2019:

• Strategic and Development Management policies: the principal document in the Local Plan, which sets out strategic policies to identify where and how change will happen in Islington; and detailed policies to manage development.
• Site allocations: this document sets out site specific policy for a number of sites across the borough which will contribute to meeting development needs.
• Bunhill and Clerkenwell Area Action Plan (AAP): a plan for the south of the borough where significant change is expected to occur. The plan sets out spatial policies covering different parts of the area with further policies to manage development.
• Documents which support the Local Plan will also be published at the bottom of the page. Please note that new information may be published during the consultation period, so please check this page for updates.
• Evidence which has informed the preparation of the Local Plan documents can be viewed at evidence base webpage.

Hard copies are available to view at Islington Town Hall, Upper Street, N1 2UD (Monday to Friday, 9am–5pm).

Have your say

• By email: planningpolicy@islington.gov.uk
• In writing: Planning Policy Team, Freepost RTXU-ETKU-KECB, Planning Policy, Islington Council, Town Hall, Upper Street, London N1 2UD

The council will consider all responses received. Where appropriate, please provide evidence to support any comments. The information submitted, other than personal contact information, will be made publicly available with a summary published as part of the Local Plan evidence base.

Drop-in sessions

If you’d like to talk about the draft documents in more detail, please come to one of our drop-in sessions at Islington Town Hall, Committee Room 6 on:

• Wednesday 5 December (6-8pm),
• Wednesday 9 January (6-8pm),