A Vision for Marylebone Town Planning
What a privilege we have living in this beautiful area - how can we pass the next generation a better, greener, forward-thinking, conserved environment?
Speaking to Marylebone residents - on doorsteps, on zoom calls or by email - many have lamented the re-active approach taken to planning by Westminster City Council. I could write a whole series of articles detailing the problems with the town planning process in Marylebone. Instead, I set out below my proposals to create a visionary approach to town planning in our lovely village.
A Holistic Vision for Infrastructure and Planning - The residents must be asked for real input into a document setting out the standards against which planning applications and infrastructure proposals will be judged. We are privileged to be the guardians of a uniquely historic, beautiful area, yet we appear to have no over-arching vision for what Westminster should look like, how it should function, what we are working towards. The result is some of the most horribly designed buildings which deface areas of graceful Georgian terraces and beautiful garden squares. I am for sympathetic modern design which is both aesthetically and operatively pleasing. We need to facilitate the residents’ voices with a fully formed strategy against which to review planning applications and infrastructure proposals.
Early consultation - Currently, developers and the Council work together in creating a plan. Residents are ‘consulted’ once the plan is fully-formed. In this context, the word ‘consulted’ means being informed what will happen with the ability only to tweak the most minor aspects of the plan. We need a new process. Residents and resident associations must be consulted at the earliest stages of any planning application and their voices must be acted upon.
Design Review Committee - Westminster needs a design review committee with active resident input. Let’s harness our residents’ skills for the public good. We have one of the highest rates of post-graduate degrees per capita in the country - why do we make it so difficult for residents to participate in what are supposed to be public processes?
Planning for How We Use Cities Now - Post pandemic, how do we use cities? What needs do our residents have for motor vehicles? What noise and air pollution levels should we find acceptable? Let’s use sensors to feed data into AI to find out how our village is really being used. Let’s stop making decisions based on some loopy idea of a bygone age or on modelling unknown futures (we know how badly that works).Let’s make decisions based on our current reality.