The Assembly's Planning and Spatial Development Committee heard that gated riverside apartments leave only a windswept and often forbidding riverside path for public use, which has no link to life in the rest of the city just a street behind. The worst examples of this are to be found to the east of Tower Bridge.
The report said that to ensure Londoners as a whole--and not just owners of upmarket riverside apartments--can enjoy the benefits of the river, there needs to be a better-planned path, with occasional open spaces and links into communities inland from the river.
Developments such as the Tate Modern, Coin Street and Millennium Wheel are praised as good examples of what can be achieved by giving stretches of the river back to Londoners through a more imaginative mix of uses and attractions.
Assembly Member John Biggs said: "London's riverside should not be allowed to become the preserve of the wealthy. In East London, where there is so much anticipated economic and population growth, there is an opportunity to ensure that past mistakes are not repeated and a new, more inclusive riverside is created. The river is valuable to Londoners and is an important draw for visitors, and the principles of wide use, of public enjoyment and of showcasing should dominate our treatment of it."
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