Polite exchanges across the purple carpet of City Hall’s chamber may not sound like a pitched battle. But at the examination in public (EiP) of the London Plan you can feel how high the stakes are for the parties: the mayor, developers, boroughs and above all London’s citizens. Running 114 policies past a panel of government inspectors presents a crucial moment to ask the big questions of a plan that runs to 2041: What kind of London do we all want to live in? And who will count the costs of this plan’s high growth agenda?

The Just Space network is a voluntary alliance of community organisations with a seat at the table at most of the hearings. We are challenging Sadiq Khan’s largely business-as-usual plan that is based around a population growth of 1.9 million by 2041. At a time of climate emergency and uncertainty in the economy the mayor inexplicably ruled out exploring alternatives to his model that relies on high land values to fund infrastructure and all other needs. Apart from their mantra of growth the planners seem uncertain of what the outcomes will be for London’s future wellbeing, which we find highly irresponsible and wrong.

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