Thank you for the invitation to speak this evening. It is a genuine pleasure to be here with so many of the people who shape Westminster as a place to invest, to build, and to do business.
I want to use the time I have to be direct with you about what a Conservative administration intends to do, and why I believe this council can be a real partner to the planning and development sector for the first time in four years.
Westminster is not just a London borough. It is one of the primary drivers of the UK economy, with commercial activity here contributing more to the national economy than most regions across the country.
We have the highest concentration of high-growth enterprises in Inner London. And our local economy generated an estimated £95 billion in Gross Value Added last year. That is roughly 4% of the entire UK’s economic output, in just 8.3 square miles.
These numbers matter, not just because it proves I can read a spreadsheet.
But because they demonstrate what is at stake when the business community is not taken seriously. Westminster City Council is not a passive bystander to local economic success. It must shape the conditions in which it thrives or stalls, with clear leadership and accountability.
That is why one of my first acts as Leader was to appoint Cllr Tim Barnes as dedicated Cabinet Member for Growth and Planning. We will focus on creating the conditions in which investment flows, development succeeds, and Westminster’s planning system delivers as it should.
The people in this room understand better than most that the foundations you lay determine everything that follows. Every decision we take on planning, licensing, transport and public realm either strengthens those foundations or undermines them.
Get them right and investment flows, development happens, and the city thrives. Get them wrong, and the consequences are felt in every delayed consent, every stalled scheme and every project that goes elsewhere.
You need a council that understands what it takes to build here and works in genuine partnership with industry to make Westminster successful. That is what this Conservative administration intends to be.
My team and I have heard your concerns. We recognise that Westminster’s planning system faces real challenges. Decisions have taken too long, the system has not always given applicants the certainty they need to plan and invest with confidence, and the balance between heritage, sustainability and growth has not always been struck in a way that serves the city’s wider interests.
That is the reset we are here to deliver. Three principles will guide it.
The first is growth and delivery.
We will restate, clearly and without hesitation, the presumption in favour of sustainable commercial development across the Central Activities Zone. Westminster’s prime office and retail offer is a national asset.
Protecting and growing it is not a political choice. It is an economic necessity. We will be visible, available, and actively engaged with the development industry as we work through a pipeline of decisions that has waited too long.
The second is pragmatism and proportionality.
Westminster has an extraordinary heritage. It has listed buildings, conservation areas, and a built environment that attracts visitors and investment from across the world. I am proud of the standards that we set.
But heritage and sustainability objectives must be applied holistically. No single factor should override the wider public benefit a scheme can deliver. A building that stands empty because the planning system cannot accommodate a sensitive retrofit is not a heritage success. It is a costly failure.
The third is accountability and transparency.
Residents, applicants and the council all need a planning system that works efficiently, communicates clearly, and delivers outcomes that are traceable and fair. That is not currently the case. But I intend to change it.
Westminster Conservatives were elected on a platform of real action, and that is exactly what the planning system is going to get.
The most immediate step is a letter that I have sent to the Director of Planning and Building Control, setting out the new administration’s planning goals and the policy direction we expect to see followed. That letter is clear: Westminster is open for business. This Conservative administration is serious about delivery, and it expects its planning function to reflect that.
We will begin an early engagement programme with the development industry, working through partners to ensure senior members and officers are accessible and that applicants know they can come to us early. Decisions need to move. Section 106 agreements need completing. And the pipeline needs to flow.
I know that the incoming retrofit policy has caused industry concern. Let me be clear: retrofit is an important starting point, but it will be applied proportionately.
Where site constraints, heritage significance, functional obsolescence or viability evidence demonstrate that a different outcome would better serve the long-term interests of the city, we will support that outcome. This Conservative council will not be dogmatic. We will be practical.
Our approach to heritage will be more flexible when it comes to sensitive listed building interventions. Historic buildings should remain viable, occupied and economically productive. Discreet modernisation, energy efficiency upgrades and accessibility improvements ensure our heritage is preserved and fit for purpose in the modern world.
To make that easier in practice, we will make greater use of Local Listed Building Consent Orders, Local Development Orders and Heritage Partnership Agreements, giving owners and developers a clearer, more predictable route to bringing listed buildings up to modern environmental standards without unnecessary delay.
Residential schemes will benefit from improved viability and deliverability. Greater flexibility on tenure, mix and unit size will help unlock affordable housing for the key workers who keep Westminster running. Teachers, nurses, police officers and the people who keep this city running deserve to live in the communities they serve. Our planning system should make that easier, not harder.
A more nuanced approach to the loss of floorspace in secondary or transitioning locations is long overdue. Where conversion to housing genuinely serves the city better, we will consider it. Westminster is not static. Its character has always evolved, and our planning policy must reflect that reality rather than resist it.
Well-designed mansard roof developments will be supported where they sit within an established townscape character. This is the common sense approach that has been missing, and we are bringing it back.
We will also commission an independent review of planning policy documentation and procedures, including the pre application process. It has become too lengthy, too granular and too fragmented, requiring applicants to navigate multiple separate pre-apps before reaching a clear answer. We will simplify that process to deliver a more holistic and predictable outcome for applicants. The broader goal remains straightforward: streamline decision making, reduce duplication, and deliver better value for everyone.
Westminster Conservatives promised in our manifesto to be a member-led authority, with decisions taken by the people this city elects. Tomorrow, we begin to deliver on that promise, reinstating the Planning and City Development Committee to restore proper member scrutiny of planning decisions and protect the integrity of the system for residents and applicants alike.
And to make sure members understand the full depth of their responsibility, we will also be introducing a structured member training programme on policy, viability, sustainability and design.
A council that gets planning right must also communicate what it delivers. One of the persistent frustrations we have heard from residents is that major development happens in their neighbourhood but they have no clear sense of what it delivers for their community. We want to re-establish that link.
Section 106 contributions, Community Infrastructure Levy, carbon offset funding: residents should be able to see directly what these schemes generate, where the money goes, and what tangible improvements it funds in their area.
Employment and skills contributions through Section 106 will be approached more flexibly too, with bespoke programmes that create real pathways into work for Westminster residents and young people.
We will also allow evidence-based flexibility on London Plan cycle parking standards in office led developments where occupancy data justifies it. Too much valuable floorspace sits empty because of a standard that no longer reflects how people get to work. That is not a compromise on sustainability. It is a proportionate response to reality.
Before I finish, I want to be clear about where this administration stands on Oxford Street.
We are in favour of modernising Oxford Street. It is one of the world’s great retail destinations, and it deserves investment, ambition and a vision that reflects that. But the Mayor’s current proposals have serious flaws that undermine that vision.
Time and again, residents and businesses have told us the same things. Removing buses, without step-free access at Oxford Circus, will leave fewer mobile people unable to access the mile-long pedestrianised area.
There are no clear plans for how traffic displaced from Oxford Street will be managed in the surrounding residential streets.
And there are currently no workable proposals for how crime and anti-social behaviour will be managed, how shops will be serviced, how bins will be collected, or how emergency vehicles will reach people who need them.
These are the fundamental questions that have been raised repeatedly by people who live and work here. But the Mayor has failed to listen and failed to answer.
Despite these glaring issues, these plans were imposed without genuinely considering the concerns of local people. Westminster Labour classified handing over Oxford Street to the Mayor as non-major specifically to avoid the scrutiny these plans needed.
That is not good enough. I have instructed the council to explore all legal options to challenge this proposal.
We are not opposing modernisation. We are demanding that it is done properly, with genuine answers to the serious questions that local people and businesses have been raising from the start.
I understand that some of you may question whether these plans can actually be delivered. We have a lot on our agenda, and these are ambitious commitments.
So let me be clear: we did not come into office to manage the status quo.
Westminster Conservatives have been elected with a mandate to deliver safe streets, a clean city and real action.
Planning is where real action and economic growth meet. A council that cannot give developers and investors the confidence they need to build here is a council that cannot deliver the homes, the workspaces, or the public realm that residents and businesses need.
We want to work with everyone in this room to make that happen. We want conversations to start early, decisions to move at pace, and outcomes that Westminster can be genuinely proud of.
This is what real action looks like. And I look forward to delivering it with you.
Thank you.
