The Planning Decisions Committee of the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) held its 112th and final meeting last night (Tuesday, October 22, 2024) as the Mayoral Development Corporation prepares to hand back town planning powers to the local boroughs on December 1, 2024.

The committee first met in October 2012 as the LLDC began its work to transform the area following the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In that time the committee has considered hundreds of major planning applications that have seen Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and its surrounding neighbourhoods grow and thrive with thousands of new homes built, two new business districts created, a huge amount of workspace secured and new schools and community facilities completed.

Key outcomes from the planning decisions committee include:

Homes

• 24,018 new homes approved
• 13,046 homes constructed and occupied, of which 3,578 affordable (27%) with almost 11,000 awaiting construction.
• 3,572 student bedrooms delivered; 5,261 student bedrooms approved awaiting delivery, 35% affordable bedrooms

Employment Space

• 646,000 sqm of employment class space permitted of which 420,000 sqm is completed
• 23,526 sqm of affordable and low-cost workspace approved, of which 10,870 sqm is completed
• 4,794 sqm of affordable and low-cost workspace under construction, and 7,862 sqm planned for the future

Social Infrastructure

• Two new primary schools and a secondary school delivered within Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and one primary school at Sugar House Island
• 7 new community spaces

 Jamie Kerr, chair of the LLDC Planning Decisions Committee, said: “It’s been a privilege to serve on the committee alongside representatives of the local boroughs, LLDC Board members and independent experts. You can see the results of the rigour applied to all applications in the quality of the built environment on and around the Park. Huge thanks go to the committee members and in particular to all the staff in the Planning Policy and Decisions Team for their professionalism and commitment.”

Anthony Hollingsworth, LLDC’s Director of Planning Policy and Decisions Team, said: “The committee performs an incredibly important function to apply our planning policies consistently and robustly. Their decisions affect the quality of lives for local residents, workers and visitors for years to come. It is a testament to the hard work of my planning colleagues applied over the last 12 years that the places, buildings and infrastructure that have been delivered have been well designed, inclusive and sustainable.  None of the excellent place-making work that has been achieved would have been possible without the dedication of the Planning Decisions Committee, which has been central to the LLDC’s planning success story.”

In addition to committee meetings, the LLDC planning team has been responsible for adoption of two Local Plans, numerous supplementary planning guidance policies ranging from conservation areas to the night-time economy. The committee has supported  the work of a Built Environment Access Panel whose members ensure that planning applications consider inclusive design issues. The Quality Review Panel has reviewed 633 planning applications since 2012 with recommendations to improve the quality of the final reports. The team also supports a Community Review Panel which allows local residents to bring a unique perspective to the town planning process.

The success of their work has been detailed in the Planning Authority Monitoring report which details not just the scale of work undertaken but the lessons learned across the last 12 years. The report can be downloaded here.

All future planning applications will now be dealt with by the relevant local planning authority in Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest and powers will formally transfer to the councils on December 1, 2024.

Ends