The Grand Union Alliance: community-based networking as response to large-scale urban development

Large-scale developments in London often have negative impacts on less well-off communities as they include: demolition of social-rented homes, low levels of new social-rented homes, over-development of luxury housing, loss of existing local industry and replacement of jobs, services and infrastructure that fail to meet the needs of existing low-income communities. However, residents, especially deprived or excluded working class communities, don’t generally engage in the technical and alien language of the planning policy impacting on large-scale developments taking place across London. This paper, written by two community organisers and a researcher, discusses the organising model whereby the Grand Union Alliance, a large network of around 250 groups, individuals and small businesses was gradually developed. The consensus model of working, developed over many years in the Just Space setting, allowed shared positions to come forward across different interests, and supported extensive community-based contributions to the planning process, with some success in influencing planning policy. The paper shares this model of organising, together with some of the challenges and outcomes, in the hope of informing other initiatives to engage with large-scale urban developments across London, and elsewhere.