Lipton Rogers scheme to head back to committee following successful judicial review launched by SAVE Britain’s Heritage
The High Court has overturned Tower Hamlets council’s decision to approve an 18-storey Foster + Partners office tower in Whitechapel following a campaign by SAVE Britain’s Heritage.
Lipton Rogers’ scheme at 101 Whitechapel High Street was approved in March last year but the outcome of SAVE’s judicial review means the planning decision will now be returned to the council for a second vote.
Councillors voted in favour of the controversial proposals to retain only the facades of a series of historic buildings in the Whitechapel High Street Conservation Area and build a 41,000sq m office tower despite a recommendation for refusal from planning officers and nearly 300 objections from members of the public.
High Court judge Justice Mould has now ruled that the decision to grant planning permission was unlawful and failed to provide adequate or intelligible reasons for approving the plans.
Matthew Fraser of Landmark Chambers, representing SAVE, argued that the councillors’ decision to approve the scheme was “irrational” as it was based on reasons which were “unsubstantiated by any evidence” and “so generic as to be meaningless”.
Fraser said the approval had ultimately failed to engage with the recommendation for refusal put forward by officers.
Planning officers had warned that the scheme would be “at odds” with the surrounding townscape and approving it could mean the site would have to be removed from the conservation area “at a minimum” in a future review if the tower is built.
Officers also warned the scheme’s location outside of a designation tall building zone “has the potential to undermine the consistent and proper application of the Development Plan going forward, contrary to good spatial planning”.
SAVE Britain’s Heritage director Henrietta Billings said the reasons given by councillors for granting permission for the scheme against officer recommendation were “clearly faulty and unjustified”.
“With the support of local residents and leading Whitechapel community-based organisations, we are pleased to have been able to successfully challenge them – and hold the decision-makers to account.”
The campaign was backed by Whitechapel Gallery and Toynbee Hall, neighbouring arts and community institutions which have been in this part of East London for more than a century.
Whitechapel Gallery director Gilane Tawadros said: “As a longstanding local public arts institution, committed to our civic responsibilities, we welcome the news of this successful challenge by SAVE and local residents. This is a uniquely special, historically significant area of London with global relevance as a beacon of cultural and creative innovation.
“Whitechapel Gallery is passionate about ensuring that it sustains its legacy as a place of, and for, local communities and fully support the campaign against this unwarranted and unnecessary commercial development.”
Katie Taylor, director of policy, research and communities at Toynbee Hall, added: “The successful judicial review highlights the power of community voice in shaping local decisions. Not only must the site’s historical character be respected, but the needs of the local community must also be met.”
The High Court’s decision marks the latest planning twist for a scheme which has been on Lipton Rogers’ books for more than nine years, with plans for a 20-storey tower on the site first submitted in 2017.
These proposals were withdrawn in 2020 and replaced with a 14-storey redesign, which was recommended for approval by planning officers but rejected the following year after amassing more than 200 objections.
Although the latest version of the scheme, submitted in February last year, was three storeys taller and had been recommended for refusal, councillors voted to defer the decision at a planning committee meeting in December to allow a site visit.
It was again recommended for refusal in January but councillors voted to back the scheme, pushing a final decision to a fourth committee hearing which took place yesterday evening.
Councillors have argued that the scheme would be an effective use of the site, which is currently a car park, and would reduce anti-social behaviour in the area including alleged drug dealing activity.
Foster + Partners, Lipton Rogers and Tower Hamlets council have all been contacted for comment.
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