An east London council has asked the High Court to review housing secretary Robert Jenrick’s decision to approve a huge development on the Isle of Dogs against the advice of a planning inspector.

PLP Architecture’s Westferry Printworks scheme, which will deliver 1,524 new homes in towers of 19 to 44 storeys, was given the green light by Jenrick in January against the advice of both Tower Hamlets council and planning inspector David Prentis who presided over an inquiry into the scheme.

Now Tower Hamlets has asked the High Court to review the approval for the site, owned by former Daily Express and Daily Star proprietor Richard Desmond, and is arguing that Jenrick was “influenced by a desire to help the developer – Westferry Developments – avoid a financial liability” in relation to new Community Infrastructure Levy charges.

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