Play space in Luxborough Street

• DESPITE the large amount of empty office space now in Westminster, the city council is continuing to push ahead with its plan to build flats on the play space in Luxborough Street.
The council is expecting to give itself planning approval at a planning committee meeting next Tuesday, October 13.

By building on open space, the planning report says that the proposal is in breach of both national planning policies and the council’s own open space policies. Yet the council is preparing to ignore those policies.

In 2018 some 800 plus local Marylebone people signed a petition to ask the city council to not go forward with the proposal.

Councillor Rachael Robathan, who is now the leader of the council, was at that time cabinet member for housing. She has paid no regard to the petition and has pushed on with her plan.

Building on spaces such as the Luxborough Street play space results in the loss of vital community space that can never be replaced.

It is particularly perverse in this age of Covid-19, when there is more need than ever for outdoor space for youngsters to play in.

ERIC ROBINSON,
W1