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Boris accused of muscling in on councils' green projects
Ruth Bloomfield16 Nov 2009
Boris Johnson was today accused of piggy-backing on council green initiatives as he announced the schemes he expects to transform London over the next decade and beyond.
The Mayor has included 36 projects in his Great Spaces initiative, which he will champion as models for future development.
But critics pointed out that a number of Great Space schemes have been organised by the borough councils, with little or no input from Mr Johnson.
They include the £26million plan to strip Exhibition Road in Kensington of street markings and kerbs and force motorists, cyclists and pedestrians to share the space.
It is the subject of legal action by charity Guide Dogs, which fears the plan will endanger the lives of blind people.
Others on the list include plans to transform Windrush Square in Brixton into a national monument to multicultural Britain - a scheme first backed by former mayor Ken Livingstone six years ago.
Jenny Jones, a Green member of the London Assembly, said: "The Mayor is not spending nearly enough on green spaces. He has just got half-hearted ideas, and is misleading about what it is he is doing. He can spend money on vanity projects like the Routemaster buses and not enough on green space."
A third of the winning projects are described as "secure", with funding already in place, and in many cases well under way, including a £29million plan to upgrade the Lea River Park on the fringes of the Olympic Park in east London. It is due to be completed next year.
Another eight schemes are described as "in development" and another 15 as "aspirational" - at the earliest stages of planning. These include proposals to upgrade the run-down Cutty Sark Gardens in Greenwich. The Mayor has given this project £30,000 towards a feasibility study.
Launching Great Spaces this year, Mr Johnson said that London-wide more than £220million was being invested over three years, to "drive up quality and make London a better place" and "breathe life into densely populated areas and provide inspiring places where people will want to linger".
Councils were invited to submit projects, irrespective of whether they were almost complete or still on the drawing board.
Councillor Daniel Moylan, deputy chairman of Transport for London, agreed that not all the schemes were new, and not all the funding is coming from the Mayor or TfL directly.
But he said: "Boris is keen to make a real transformation.
"We have been very honest in splitting schemes into what is happening and what is aspirational."
Areas set for regeneration
Windrush Square, Brixton (secure)
The square was opened to commemorate the West Indian immigrants on the Empire Windrush in 1948, many of whom settled in the area. The £8.7 million project (funded by Transport for London and the London Development Agency) will see the square linked to Tate Gardens. It will be landscaped, with new seating, cycle stands, trees and a water feature. Work began in August and is due to be completed by spring 2011.
St Giles Circus, Soho (in development)
There are plans to create a new public square close to the Centre Point Tower, to upgrade the area once the new Tottenham Court Road Crossrail station is built. No budget and no timeframe is available, although work will not start until the station itself is complete.
Highbury Corner, Islington (in development)
Plans to remodel the traffic-clogged junction and create a new public square in front of Highbury and Islington Station. Islington council will consult on detailed plans next year.
Bankside Urban Forest (in development)
A programme of works to improve the Bankside area, from the riverside to the Elephant and Castle, and between Blackfriars Road and Borough High Street. Southwark council and the Tate are developing ideas including a network of green spaces, public art and perhaps an open-air playground by Tate Modern. It is hoped work will start in 2011.
Waterloo Square (aspirational)
Creation of a new public square beside Waterloo Station and a revamp of the complicated streets and underpasses around the Imax Cinema to make the area easier to negotiate. A design team was chosen to draw up proposals earlier this year, but no more progress has been made.
Reader views (6)
Living in Spain I have seen how square living can raise an area with trees, a fountain(s) and coffee bars. But why it works is there are no cars with their noise, pollution and anger. Lets try first in Trafalgar Square and see if we like it.
- Andrew, London, 16/11/2009 23:00
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I heard on London TV news that one of the redevelopment areas is Leicester Square.
I am 60 years old and have lived in or near central London for all of that time. Over the years I reckon Leicester Square has ben "redeveloped" at least seven times (I remember the happy days when you could drive right round it).
But with all that work and all that money being spent how (other than the cars) has it really changed? 50 years ago it was a few cinemas, a couple of nightclubs/ballrooms, some cheap restaurants and a middle bit where you could suit down. And basically that's what it still is.
So what is the point in redeveloping again. Haven't they got it right yet? And what's wrong with it? It seems alright to me. What more can they do; change the colour of the paving yet again?
Hasn't Westminster got more important things to worry about? Or is tooling about and wasting money how it justifies its predatory parking fine regime?
(Actually there is a way of redeveloping The Square and that is to tear the whole lot down, get rid of the ugly mish-mash of buildings on all four sides and create some decent new architecture. Seven years and £2 billion! Well that isn't going to happen!)
- Steve, London, UK, 16/11/2009 14:48
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Boris gets it right again. Some good ideas here but central London is in desperate need for more car parking, and some of these planned public squares would be much more profitable as car parks which would bring in investment to improve the character of places such as Oxford street.
- Ant, London, 16/11/2009 13:31
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Sarah - take off the rose tinted specs and read to the bottom of the story "Councillor Daniel Moylan, deputy chairman of Transport for London, agreed that not all the schemes were new, and not all the funding is coming from the Mayor or TfL directly."
- Jonb, London, 16/11/2009 13:02
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Can you explain why the remeodeling of Trafalgar Square is a disaster? As a pedestrian I think its fantastic.
- Dc, London, 16/11/2009 12:36
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This is very positive news and an excellent set of projects that Boris has put forward. London will definitely feel and look a better place at the end of his term of office unlike the previous mayor who caused London to descend into chaos with endless road works, ugly concrete tower blocks being built on parkland and the disastrous remodeling of Trafalgar Square.
- Sarah, London, 16/11/2009 11:56
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