London Opportunity Boroughs

The London Boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Barnet, Brent and Islington were identified in February 2005 as Boroughs with the willingness, capacity and potential to accommodate higher housing growth over and above their current London Plan targets.

They were given 'Opportunity Borough' status. As Opportunity Boroughs, Barnet, Brent and Islington have access to the Growth Area Fund for the years 2006-07 and 2007-08. The London Borough of Barking and Dagenham can access Thames Gateway funding in the whole of the borough rather than simply the zones of change.

The regional planning framework

The London Plan, published by the Mayor of London, sets a target for the five London LSCP boroughs of 66,860 additional homes between 1997-2016. In October 2005 the Mayor published for consultation new draft housing targets which would increase the London LSCP target by around 5700 between 2007-08 -2016-17. The Mayor's proposed new targets were subject to independent examination in public in June 2006. The independent panel will make their recommendations to the Mayor in Autumn 2006, with the Mayor publishing the alterations in Spring 2007.

The London Opportunity Boroughs have received £11m through Round 2 of the Growth Areas Fund.

Case study examples in the London Opportunity Boroughs through Growth Area Fund 2.

Aerodrome Road rail bridges replacement, London Borough of Barnet

Colindale is an area of significant housing opportunity which currently suffers from bad access from the South East. The two bridges which carry the Midland Mainline railway over Aerodrome Road are too narrow and low to allow buses to pass safely through, and pavements are very narrow. The bridges are the sixth most struck of all railway bridges in the country. By improving access under the railway and thus increasing public transport permeability, and improving pedestrian and cyclist safety, the full capacity of the lands in Colindale can be exploited to deliver towards 10,000 dwellings.

Church End, Willesden, London Borough of Brent

With minor alterations to the highway at Church End the main development site at the centre can be extended enabling higher buildings to be constructed. Coupled with improvements to the public transport infrastructure, this will permit higher densities of development on a key site with the potential to kickstart developer interest and the regeneration of the area.

City Road Basin, Public Realm, London Borough of Islington

The City Road canal basin is one of the largest areas of open space in the borough and a key feature on the popular Regent's Canal between Islington and the East End. Significant high-density residential development is planned for its banks to deliver a total of 856 dwellings. Access to the basin is currently restricted by industrial properties and a key element of the plans for the basin development is to open up access to the waterside and its planned amenities for existing residents of the area, as well as securing a high quality civic space for all residents.