Disbanding a review panel of experts responsible for evaluating new developments in London would be “throwing the baby out with the bath water,” says a retired architect who helped conceive the advisory group.

Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis and Ward 8 Coun. Steve Lehman have introduced a motion asking their city council colleagues to dissolve the Urban Design Peer Review Panel (UDPRP), an independent body of volunteer architects, planners, urban designers and landscape architects who provide expert opinion and input on planning and development applications.

Citing the Canada-wide housing crisis, Lewis and Lehman called the panel a “significant contributor to time delays and cost increases” that represents a redundancy that can “easily be eliminated.”

The motion, which will be debated by city council on Tuesday, has the support of one of London’s largest developers.

But past and present panel members are pushing back on claims included in the motion, agreeing there’s a need to speed up the process for approving developments but denying it is responsible for the holdup and warning its dissolution will hurt urban design in the city and may lead to an increased workload on city staff.

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