London Mayor Ken Livingston has called for the London planning system to be overhauled to protect it from property developers. Speaking at a Labour Party Conference fringe meeting Livingston proposed the creation of five planning boards to assume the powers of the 32 local authorities, because smaller authorities do not have the skills to cope with large-scale planning decisions. “You can’t take people who are dealing with back extensions five years out of six and then expect them to get on top of some of the most rapacious bastards on the planet, employing some of the best lawyers money can buy,” he said. He also said that he wanted to bring the Kent and Essex parts of the Thames Gateway under GLA control to stop them being sidelined by the government and to offer them some of the benefits Londoners receive such as free travel for under 18’s.