'You chose to live here': Sir Sadiq Khan hits out at NIMBY councillors blocking nighttime economy plans
Sir Sadiq Khan has hit out at “NIMBY” councillors blocking his plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street and keep bars and clubs open at night.
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Speaking on LBC’s State of the Nation, the London Mayor blasted officials from Westminster City Council for holding up his plans to get London’s nighttime economy booming.
He said Oxford Street has been on the decline for the last 30 years because “you've got NIMBY councillors on either side of that street saying no to any progress.”
Sir Sadiq said he is “incredibly frustrated” that the situation is the same for the nighttime economy, with people having nowhere to go out at night in the heart of London despite five Tubes lines open late and a record numbers of night buses running.
“One of the reasons why Oxford Street for 30 years has had decline is because you've got NIMBY councillors on either side of that street saying no to any progress,” he said.
Sir Sadiq added: “And that's why I asked the government to allow me to take up Oxford Street and pedestrianise it, because the NIMBY council refused to make progress on that street.
Read more: Tories pledge to fight Oxford Street pedestrianisation after winning back Westminster
“And the same goes for the nighttime economy. I'm incredibly frustrated. I've got five tubes open at the night time, I've got record numbers of night buses. They’ve got nowhere to go to because you can't go to a decent club or a decent bar after a certain time of the day.”
He added that if you've chosen to live next to a pub doing live music or a nightclub “in the centre of the greatest city in the world” you should expect and accept to hear some noise at nighttime.
Sir Sadiq had been responding to caller Mike from East Finchley, who asked how to balance the voices of residents complaining about late night activity with the “need to create a vibrant and thriving visitor and nighttime economy.”
The Mayor replied: “We are a global city. We're nothing against, you know, rural England. We're a city that's not a dormitories town. “We're a global city which is flourishing and thriving and where the average age is 34. And, in certain parts of our city, people want to have fun stuff to do in the evenings and late into the night.”
He added that having ward councillors who win or lose an election by 12 votes or 24 votes, determining which businesses can stay open until what time ‘is not good for our city.”
“And I think there are some strategic sites, some parts of London, where we should take it out of the control of ward councillors,” Sir Sadiq said.
The Tories won 32 seats with Labour on 22 following a "knife-edge" struggle for the symbolic council, which covers Downing Street and Buckingham Palace.
Westminster fell to Labour for the first time in 2022, after more than five decades of undisrupted Conservative control since its creation in 1965.
The Soho Society, a society of residents funded by Westminster city council, voted in its Annual General Meeting for a new licensing mandate that will see it challenge all new applications for bars and restaurants in the central London area. That includes renewals of existing licences.
The Society argues that as nightlife in the area has intensified, the infrastructure needed to accommodate it has not matched that growth, most importantly policing, dispersal plans and safety.
But restaurant and bar owners have previously hit out at the Soho Society’s plans, warning it could “destroy Soho’s reputation on the international stage” as the entertainment district of the capital.
LBC has approached Westminster city council.
The Soho Society said: "The Soho Society, as a small volunteer-run charity welcomes ongoing discussions with the new Westminster City Council administration.
"The invitation remains open to the Mayor to discuss the most beneficial way of continuing to help Soho thrive, for everyone.”