London mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan has said he will review the masterplan for Earls Court, the capital’s biggest and most controversial development which will see two council estates bulldozed to make way for a new ‘district’ dominated by 6000 expensive new homes and few affordable ones. Already the historic Earls Court exhibition centre has disappeared.
As Matt Bain, a resident on one of the threatened estates, reported on this blog, Earls Court could be the vanguard of a ‘social cleansing’ policy under guise of regeneration, notably in London, after David Cameron unveiled a plan to demolish 100 council estates.
The Labour council in Hammersmith & Fulham, which has irked residents by appearing to promise to stop demolition of the estates but then said it is powerless to do so, is said to be in negotiations over a revised plan with more affordable housing.
Here the Guardian’s Dave Hill, who has been following the Earls Court saga from the outset, reports on how Khan is front-runner for mayor and if elected could deploy certain powers to affect the masterplan.
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/davehillblog/2016/mar/10/sadiq-khan-to-review-earls-court-masterplan-if-elected-london-mayor
