Dartford Council's leader has slammed suggestions of redrawing the London map to include Dartford.

A property consultant, Barney Stringer, sparked debate by suggesting the London map should be changed to include the commuter belt in the south east.

Mr Stringer raised a few eyebrows on his blog about how new boundaries could "reflect the reality of its huge economic pull on the wider south-east" and highlighted on a map where more people go to work in the capital than they do in their own district.

Dartford Council leader Councillor Jeremy Kite, however, quashed the idea of a new London map.

He told News Shopper: "This sort of thing surfaces every few years or so and it’s always from people like planning consultants, it’s never from the council or residents themselves. 

"It never comes from people who know what they are talking about.

News Shopper:

"They have talked about this for decades. It is no closer to happening today than it ever has been.

"We cooperate with London and there’s no need for anything else. It is really not going to happen. 

"It would require an Act of Parliament to change things and we don’t need it - Dartford is Kent and not part of London."

Mr Stringer had written about the issue in an online article called Is London too small?

He said: "A soaring jobs market, plus a shortage of housing, adds up to growing pressure on regional commuter rail routes to bring the workforce in from elsewhere. 

"That’s why we need investments such as Thameslink, Crossrail 1 and Crossrail 2, to better integrate central London to the wider south-east of England.

"If London’s boundaries now contain its economy so poorly, where should they be drawn? 

"That of course is a very political question, and fifty years ago some districts fought furiously to avoid becoming part of London. But the latest Census data on travel patterns offers a good starting point."

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