Tall buildings threat as mayor updates viewing corridors

The development of tall buildings in the capital could be under threat from significantly increased viewing corridors unveiled by the Mayor today.

The Mayor of London has published a draft London View Management Framework setting out proposals to increase the ten established protected viewing corridors in London.

These include doubling the width of several viewing corridors, including one from Richmond to St Paul’s Cathedral. The report also introduces two new viewing corridors – one from Parliament Hill to the Palace of Westminster and one from the Serpentine Bridge to the Palace of Westminster.

Developers will need to assess the “significance, scale and magnitude of effect caused by the proposal’s size, shape or design” with relation to the viewing corridors. Skyscrapers proposed for the newly-increased corridors could find themselves at odds with the London Plan.

The Mayor said: “We are privileged to enjoy a fabulous architectural heritage history as we go about our daily lives whether crossing one of the Thames bridges, walking along its banks, or from a higher, distant vantage point. We must protect those views at all costs. This new guidance will help ensure that new development fits in with that built heritage and show how new buildings can enhance, rather than detract from, some of our favourite views.”