0:00:00 > 0:00:00particularly across parts of East Anglia. That is all from
0:00:12 > 0:00:13Welcome to BBC London News.
0:00:13 > 0:00:17I'm Alex Bushill.
0:00:17 > 0:00:20The Mayor of London is facing growing opposition from outer London
0:00:20 > 0:00:23boroughs over plans to build 600,000 new homes in ten years.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27City Hall says its an answer to the housing crisis.
0:00:27 > 0:00:30But some boroughs say Sadiq Khan's plans will threaten
0:00:30 > 0:00:37green spaces and lead to uncontrolled development.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40In the borough of Richmond there is an old college playing field where
0:00:40 > 0:00:46they have started digging, and some green space will be lost to make way
0:00:46 > 0:00:50for new schools and business hub. But the council leader is happy
0:00:50 > 0:00:54about it.It is a development that works because it has been thought
0:00:54 > 0:00:56through, local partners have been brought together and we have planned
0:00:56 > 0:01:01it.But what has not been thought through, he claims, is the Mayor of
0:01:01 > 0:01:15London's plans for many new homes, which he believes could
0:01:16 > 0:01:18lead to uncontrolled development that wrecks the borough's character.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21He has written an open letter to residents saying this. This plan, if
0:01:21 > 0:01:23implemented as currently proposed, will have an enormous impact on our
0:01:23 > 0:01:25borough. The Mayor of London's plan is for 600,000 new homes in ten
0:01:25 > 0:01:28years, with 8000 in Richmond Borough, one of the greenest in
0:01:28 > 0:01:32London. But looking at the map the council leader says such a dash for
0:01:32 > 0:01:36growth will come at a cost.We have got playing fields and green spaces
0:01:36 > 0:01:43which are under threat already so additional pressure of small site
0:01:43 > 0:01:47development, local infill, without the ability to strategically plan is
0:01:47 > 0:01:52going to put pressure on all of our other remaining local green spaces
0:01:52 > 0:01:56and playing fields.And it is not just in Richmond that they are
0:01:56 > 0:02:01rebelling. Over in south-east London, Bexley Council says it's
0:02:01 > 0:02:04suburban streets could be changed forever.It certainly is a rebellion
0:02:04 > 0:02:10against the plan.The counsellor, who has lived here for more than 30
0:02:10 > 0:02:14years, says in some areas developers could just buy up and knock down the
0:02:14 > 0:02:19semis like dominoes.You see the houses behind big? This would be an
0:02:19 > 0:02:23ideal location for a developer to come along and buy those two houses,
0:02:23 > 0:02:27knock them down and put a block of flats there with no parking. I could
0:02:27 > 0:02:32see a lot of these houses completely disappeared, just blocks of flats.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36An independent calculation prepared for some councils claims the target
0:02:36 > 0:02:46in inner
0:02:48 > 0:02:51London is up 41% and in outer London it is up 114%. So far, Richmond,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54Kingston, Bexley and Bromley are known to be unhappy, and it is
0:02:54 > 0:02:56understood at least eight councils are making formal objections.If
0:02:56 > 0:02:58bloggers are saying they do not agree with the plan they are either
0:02:58 > 0:03:01saying build on the green belt or they do not have an answer to the
0:03:01 > 0:03:04housing crisis.Responses to the plan have to be in by the end of the
0:03:04 > 0:03:07month, then City Hall will consider its final strategy.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09Plans to increase the number of passengers using Stansted Airport
0:03:09 > 0:03:14have been lodged with the local council.
0:03:14 > 0:03:16Managers want to raise the cap limiting the maximum number
0:03:16 > 0:03:19of passengers a year.
0:03:19 > 0:03:22But a campaign group in opposition to expansion says the existing noise
0:03:22 > 0:03:23is already bad enough.
0:03:23 > 0:03:27Richard Smith sent this report.
0:03:27 > 0:03:31In the heart of the terminal at Stansted today, builders are making
0:03:31 > 0:03:35space for new check-in desks outside the first of 20 new ad Kraft stands
0:03:35 > 0:03:41are taking place. The start of a £600 million transformation,
0:03:41 > 0:03:45including a new arrivals terminal. All vital, they say, to prepare
0:03:45 > 0:03:50Stanstead Airport for future growth. What we are doing is matching the
0:03:50 > 0:03:54timing of our development with demand, and we think now is the
0:03:54 > 0:03:58right time to start planning for that demand, the right time to give
0:03:58 > 0:04:02airlines and stakeholders the confidence and clarity as to what
0:04:02 > 0:04:06Stansted is going to be for the next ten to 15 years.Stanstead Airport
0:04:06 > 0:04:12handles around 26 million passengers a year. It is allowed to handle up
0:04:12 > 0:04:16to 35 million. It is applying to lift that capped a 43 million
0:04:16 > 0:04:20passengers a year, close to the capacity of its current single
0:04:20 > 0:04:24runway. A decade ago Stanstead Airport went through a public
0:04:24 > 0:04:28inquiry and a long legal battle for permission to increase passenger
0:04:28 > 0:04:32numbers. The campaign group which opposed that expansion is
0:04:32 > 0:04:35considering the airport's new request to grow.It is bad enough as
0:04:35 > 0:04:41it is now with the planes flying in, lots of complaints about the noise.
0:04:41 > 0:04:46And the number of flights would go up, as I say, by 45% so you can
0:04:46 > 0:04:51imagine the impact that would have. If its applications are approved,
0:04:51 > 0:04:54Stanstead Airport could operate more flights, although no more than
0:04:54 > 0:04:58currently allowed. The airport seeks no change to noise limits and
0:04:58 > 0:05:03believes the impact on communities would be minimal. Stansted says 2018
0:05:03 > 0:05:08will break records, Emirates will begin flying from Stansted in June,
0:05:08 > 0:05:12transatlantic flights resume in weeks thanks to a Danish carrier.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15The district council will now consider Stansted's application.
0:05:15 > 0:05:17Richard Smith reporting there.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20What's the best way to remember those who died at Grenfell
0:05:20 > 0:05:23and ensure promises made to support the survivors are honoured?
0:05:23 > 0:05:28Well, a nearby theatre company thinks they can help by staging
0:05:28 > 0:05:30a play based on the views of locals living near Grenfell Tower.
0:05:31 > 0:05:34Ayshea Buksh reports.
0:05:34 > 0:05:40Nancy come again I get my usual?One pint of lager coming up.The setting
0:05:40 > 0:05:44is a pub in the shadow of Grenfell Tower, the drama onstage between
0:05:44 > 0:05:49locals and housing officials in the lead up to last summer's fire.You
0:05:49 > 0:05:55boys, smashing glasses...Boys Will be boys!The actors all live
0:05:55 > 0:05:59locally, one performer lost a close friend in the fire and says taking
0:05:59 > 0:06:07part in the production has been a healing process.It is tough, the
0:06:07 > 0:06:12Greeks are dealing with what happened over the summer.Just
0:06:12 > 0:06:15remember a couple of things, moment where people talk over each other...
0:06:15 > 0:06:22It allows you to act out scenarios and deal with it in a way that is
0:06:22 > 0:06:28different to just talking about it. The short play has been produced by
0:06:28 > 0:06:31a theatre company in North Kensington, Britain by young
0:06:31 > 0:06:34performers after interviewing residents on a state in the area.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38Raphael Joseph was one of them, he lives on the Lancaster West Estate
0:06:38 > 0:06:42next to the Grenfell Tower.We still feel like nothing has been done,
0:06:42 > 0:06:48even the lots. In terms of support, but in terms of trying to refurbish
0:06:48 > 0:06:53our flat as well, everything is going at a slower pace but at the
0:06:53 > 0:06:56same time we have to be grateful for our lives and just keep on moving
0:06:56 > 0:07:00forward.The community Theatre company is based in a housing estate
0:07:00 > 0:07:04in Kensal rise and the artistic director says they are passionate
0:07:04 > 0:07:07about giving people in social housing a voice.We want to raise
0:07:07 > 0:07:12the profile of social housing, we want to show the value of council
0:07:12 > 0:07:21estates. At the moment more than 100 of them in London are being
0:07:21 > 0:07:23earmarked for demolition.We believe that the people living and working
0:07:23 > 0:07:26in social housing need to be empowered. The next step is to take
0:07:26 > 0:07:30the play and perform it out on location, and around local estates
0:07:30 > 0:07:35close to the Grenfell Tower.
0:07:35 > 0:07:37Now, with a warning of snow and sub-zero temperatures
0:07:37 > 0:07:41on the way, here's Elizabeth Ritzini with a look at the weekend weather.
0:07:46 > 0:07:50Good afternoon, it was a cold and frosty start to the day, a
0:07:50 > 0:07:54widespread frost of course earlier on this morning, Tom temperatures as
0:07:54 > 0:07:57low as minus five Celsius. There is still some sunshine for the rest of
0:07:57 > 0:08:01the day but also an awful lot of cloud, the best of the sunshine is
0:08:01 > 0:08:05in the West and we have a chilly easterly wind as well. Temperatures
0:08:05 > 0:08:09only fall five Celsius, it will of course look older than that with the
0:08:09 > 0:08:12wind chill and quite bitter, particularly where we have the cloud
0:08:12 > 0:08:23out
0:08:32 > 0:08:35towards central and eastern areas for the most part but at least it
0:08:35 > 0:08:37will stay dry. Overnight tonight the skies will largely clear once more
0:08:37 > 0:08:39and once again we are looking at a widespread hard frost into tomorrow
0:08:39 > 0:08:42morning. Temperatures could get as low as -4 -5 once more but tomorrow,
0:08:42 > 0:08:45a cold and frosty start but actually it is going to be quite a pretty
0:08:45 > 0:08:48looking day with lots of sunshine around, as you can see on the map,
0:08:48 > 0:08:51hardly a cloud in the sky but what you cannot see is the strengthening
0:08:51 > 0:08:53easterly wind, that will pick up through the day, an awful lot of
0:08:53 > 0:08:56wind chill tomorrow afternoon coming in from the east. We will see
0:08:56 > 0:08:58temperatures between four and seven Celsius but in reality it could be
0:08:58 > 0:09:01subzero for much of the day. Even colder air coming our way on Sunday,
0:09:01 > 0:09:12pushing in from Siberia, so it will feel absolutely bitter, temperatures
0:09:12 > 0:09:14only one or two Celsius, feeling subzero all-day, that is where the
0:09:14 > 0:09:17temperatures will stake as we head into the start of next week and we
0:09:17 > 0:09:19have a Met Office weather warning out for some snow showers on Monday
0:09:19 > 0:09:20and Tuesday.
0:09:20 > 0:09:21That's about it from me.
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