Sadiq Khan is offering jobs paying up to almost £100,000 a year for staff able to help him seize control of Oxford Street.The first four of about 15 jobs are being advertised on a Greater London Authority website – and the job specifications contain revelations about the mayor’s potential “power grab” from Westminster council.These include redesignating Oxford Street as a Transport for London road – rather than keeping it as a Westminster council road – and having “longer-term stewardship of the Oxford Street area”.As expected, this would involve securing Parliamentary approval for the establishment of a “mayoral development corporation” to drive through the expected ban on vehicles and cyclists, and the diversion of numerous bus routes.
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00:00Around 15 jobs are about to be up for grabs as the Mayor of London has just started plans
00:05to take over the UK's most famous shopping area, Oxford Street.
00:10Sadiq Khan plans to transform the road by establishing it as part of Transport for London's
00:15network which ultimately his office is responsible for.
00:19It comes after he's revealed plans to pedestrianise Oxford Street earlier in the year.
00:24This new plan involves creating a team, including some senior roles, with salaries up to £100,000
00:31a year to oversee, design, consult and implement the project.
00:35And as you might expect, the whole plan and the development of a proposed Mayoral Development
00:40Corporation will need parliamentary approval, which may now be easier for Khan given that
00:46a new Labour government is in power.
00:49We have a pro-business, pro-growth government in Whitehall and Westminster.
00:54We're working closely with them to make sure we can go through with these plans.
00:59They'll give me the powers.
01:00I think status quo, doing nothing, is not an option and I'm somebody who believes passionately
01:05that the best days of Oxford Street can be ahead of us rather than behind us.
01:09The proposal, inspired by a successful urban transformation like the one in Times Square,
01:14seeks to enhance sustainability, accessibility and economic activity, but many local residents
01:21are not happy about it and Westminster Council is against the idea.
01:25A public consultation on the project is scheduled for next year.