Private and public landowners could join forces for the public good thanks to Southwark Council’s land commission – the second of its kind in the UK.
The land commission, comprising a panel of local stakeholders and planning experts, aims to explore how different institutions can partner to make the most of local space.
However, Southwark Liberal Democrats have criticised the commission, saying future Camberwell and Peckham Labour candidate Miatta Fahnbulleh shouldn’t have been made chair.
Cllr James McAsh, cabinet member for the climate emergency and sustainable development, said: “Southwark council is a major landowner but there are lots of other landowners like TfL, non-public institutions with social purpose like faith groups, and other private sector-oriented groups. Our goal is to bring these different groups together.”
Elaborating, he said local authorities’ “standard model” was to build on land it already owns and find a private developer to help fund it.
But he said the land commission could help the council to team up with other institutions, like community and faith groups, to explore opportunities for collaborative developments that benefit both parties.
For example, Southwark Council could work with a church to build a community centre that straddles both their land, something which wouldn’t normally be considered possible.
But Mr McAsh said this was not a survey of land ownership in Southwark, which he said would “cost vast amounts”.
“Land ownership is very secretive in Britain. Even the land registry doesn’t know the ownership of all the land in the country,” he said.
But he added that private landowners would be asked to share that information if they wanted to participate in the commission.
The board comprises approximately fourteen members, each from a local stakeholder or bringing some expertise. More members could be added.
They will be chaired by prospective Labour candidate for Camberwell and Peckham and New Economics Foundation Chief Executive Miatta Fahnbulleh.
Miatta Fahnbulleh is set to be Labour candidate for Camberwell and Peckham
Southwark Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr Victor Chamberlain criticised her appointment, saying Labour was “marking their own homework”.
“Yet again Labour are trying to mark their own homework. For Labour to appoint their own parliamentary candidate to this important position is a direct conflict of interest,” he said.
He added: “Southwark Labour must not be allowed to use public money and platform to raise the profile of a local prospective parliamentarian and gain undue advantage.”
Cllr McAsh said: “Miatta is eminently qualified for the role. She wasn’t appointed on the basis of her political affiliations… in fact I don’t know what most people’s political affiliations are.
“I can imagine if there was an election coming up and if it was a contentious constituency it might be more contentious but Miatta is clearly very qualified.”
Dr Fanhbulleh said: “I have worked on housing and land issues at national and local level for over fifteen years. I agreed to chair the Southwark Land Commission because I wanted to bring this experience to this important piece of work. And I am determined that as a commission we engage with all parts of the community and work on a cross-party basis.”
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There have also been criticisms that environmental groups are under-represented on the commission’s board, which Extinction Rebellion (XR) Southwark said was a “concern”.
An XR Southwark spokesperson said: “We also noticed with concern that there were no community groups on the land commission from an environment and climate perspective.”
“The design of urban spaces is one of the most effective tools we have in both adapting to and mitigating climate change,” they added.
Cllr McAsh said it was “in part a fair criticism” and that the commission was looking at bringing in a board member with more environmental expertise.
The commission is the second of its kind in the UK after a similar initiative was launched by Liverpool Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram in 2020.
Southwark Council has appointed planning consultants PRD, We Made That and PMV Planning to help oversee it.
The group will have its first meeting later this month to decide the scope of the project. By July, it hopes to make a set of recommendations to Southwark Council.
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