Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has made an early statement of intent to show a new attitude to planning in the capital

Above: The rejected stadium plan

The previous Mayor of London famously approved pretty much any planning application that came his way no matter how awful or inappropriate the proposed development was.

Sadiq Khan, by contrast, is already showing signs of sticking to his manifesto pledge to protect London’s green belt by refusing planning permission for a development that he felt would encroach on green space in the city.

In one of his first planning moves, the new mayor has rejected plans for a three-storey football stadium and blocks of flats in Chislehurst.

The development, which included building a football stadium for Cray Wanderers Football Club, community sports pitches and a pair of four-storey residential blocks of 28 flats, had been approved by Bromley Council. However, Mr Khan decided that the plans would cause significant harm to an area of much needed open green space. He was also concerned the application at Flamingo Park Club included no affordable housing.

“I am determined to oppose building on the Green Belt, which is now even more important than when it was created,” he said. “Working with my planning team, I will continue to use my full range of planning powers to further strengthen protections for open and green spaces in the London Plan and ensure we are making the most of brownfield sites across the city, including the vast swathes of public land which are ripe for building homes for Londoners.”

However, he also said that he wants to get 50,000 news homes built each year in London. “I want to work with developers to build the homes London so desperately needs and I will be the first Mayor to use my planning powers to much greater effect, supporting boroughs rather than hindering them, and getting a firm grip on the housing crisis,” he said.