icSouthlondon - Anger over bid to give Livingstone more control

icSouthlondon - Anger over bid to give Livingstone more control: "Anger over bid to give Livingstone more control

Oct 17 2006

NEWS that Mayor of London Ken Livingstone could be handed more power has been met with outrage.
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Southwark council leaders are planning a motion to persuade the Government to ditch plans to give Mr Livingstone more of a say.

It is expected this month's Queen's Speech - which outlines the Government's plans for the coming year - will propose the Mayor has a bigger say in planning and waste issues.

Council leader Nick Stanton said: 'The best knowledge about local communities comes from the people who actually live and work there. 'For example, giving the Mayor additional powers in the area of planning would probably have meant the approval of the development by Berkeley Homes at Potter's Field or the Downtown development.

'Both of these fly in the face of public opinion and are being strongly opposed by the council. 'We will be bringing a motion to the next meeting of the council assembly and we hope to secure the ringing endorsement of all sides to oppose these ludicrous power-grabbing plans.'


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A London Mayor spokeswoman said Southwark council would retain 99.9 per cent of authority over planning.

She added: 'The claim that these proposals will deprive communities of the ability to influence what gets built locally is complete nonsense.

'The Mayor has made it quite clear that he will only be deciding a handful of cases a year of London-wide importance.'"