Local residents living on site win right for judicial review with hearing to be held this summer
The government’s decision to approve David Chipperfield’s plans for a Chinese Embassy next to the Tower of London will be challenged at the High Court this summer after campaigners were awarded the right for a judicial review.
The High Court ordered the claim brought by the Royal Mint Court Residents’ Association (RMCRA) against the controversial planning approval for what would be Europe’s largest embassy complex should proceed with a hearing in late June or early July.
Communities secretary Steve Reed signed off the 20,000sq m scheme on the former Royal Mint Court site in January following years of delays to the project and persistent concerns that it could pose a threat to national security.
Opposition to the embassy has focused on its proximity to a key cable network which carries a vast amount of data to the City, and a series of unmarked rooms in the basement of the proposed buildings which would be positioned close to where the cables run past the site.
RMCRA residents, who live in around 100 homes owned by the Chinese government on a residential part of the site, are arguing that the decision to approve the scheme also failed to take into account their own safety.
The group says the government failed to properly take into account the impact of potential protestors, emergency access and public safety, and has not explained how it can ensure their safety on premises it is legally barred from entering.
It is arguing that the approval was unlawful, procedurally unfair and failed to take into account the implications of granting planning permission for a site already designated as diplomatic premises.
Ricardo Gama of law firm Leigh Day, which is representing the claimants, said last month that RMCRA had “raised serious and legitimate concerns about the safety and transparency” of the planning approval.
Gama said: “When a development of this scale is placed directly alongside people’s homes, it is essential that the Government demonstrates it has fully considered the risks and followed a fair and open process.
“Instead, our clients say key information was withheld, critical safety issues were left unresolved, and residents were given no meaningful opportunity to understand or challenge what was being decided.
“We are asking the court to ensure that proper scrutiny takes place before any further steps are taken.”
Reed said in January that countries establishing embassies in other countries’ capitals is a “normal part of international relations”.
He insisted that national security was the government’s “first duty” and intelligence agencies had been involved throughout the process with an “extensive range” of measures in place to manage any risks.
A decision on the scheme has been delayed multiple times since its planning application was first submitted to Tower Hamlets council in 2021, with the initial plans rejected in 2022 before an identical scheme was resubmitted last year.
This scheme was called in by former communities secretary Angela Rayner in October 2024 and sent to a public inquiry held in February last year. In August, Rayner asked China to explain why some rooms in the embassy, particularly in the basement areas, had been blanked out in the planning application.
Under Chipperfield’s plans, the grade II* listed Johnson Smirke Building would be refurbished as the main embassy building to host formal reception spaces and offices.
The grade II-listed Seaman’s Registry would also be refurbished under the scheme with various additions to both buildings, which were carried out as part of the mint’s redevelopment in the 1980s, due to be replaced.
Two linked blocks constructed as part of the 1980s redevelopment, Dexter House and Murray House, would be separated and reconfigured, with Murray House stripped back to its frame to create a new ceramic-clad cultural centre.
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