The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has approved plans for a major regeneration project, which will create a new town centre at Brent Cross in Cricklewood, north London.

The £4.5 billion scheme is a welcome boost to the local economy in Barnet and to London as a whole. It aims to bring a total of 27,000 new jobs to the area, including skills training for local people, all serving to help drive London forward and out of the recession.

The scheme will provide a new gateway to London and a vibrant new urban quarter in Barnet. The plans for a whole new town centre based around Cricklewood and Brent Cross would create more jobs, affordable homes, new schools, new health facilities, high quality parks and open spaces, and major improvements to local transport facilities.

The project will see improvements to highways and road junctions in the area, equipping it to efficiently carry any extra traffic arising from the development. The new public transport measures in the scheme will be managed by a new Transport Strategy Group, with representatives from Transport for London, Barnet Council and the developers.

The Mayor of London’s team has worked closely with the council and developers to secure the maximum number of affordable homes possible. This will be reviewed at each phase to ensure there are opportunities to add more affordable housing in line with changing market conditions.

The Mayor said: “This is another great example of pushing ahead with major development and infrastructure improvements to create jobs, and boost the capital’s economic growth, while transforming the quality of life of thousands of Londoners. The scheme will bring a new vitality to a part of the capital in need of regeneration.

“Having carefully considered the proposal I am satisfied that the application fulfils the need to have the kinds of transport links that will bring fluidity and rejuvenation to Brent Cross while avoiding potential problems caused by any extra traffic.”