Major schemes ‘at risk’ as government delays future development plan, City says

The City of London has hit back at the government’s decision to delay the Square Mile’s future development plan due to concerns over the potential impact on the Tower of London, saying the move could put major schemes “at risk”.

Housing and planning minister Matthew Pennycook told City authorities last week that the City Plan 2040 needed “further scrutiny” on its approach to protecting the site’s World Heritage status.

In a letter published on 25 June, Pennycook said he wanted to take a second look at “potential alternative approaches”, adding that his aim was to “seek reassurance that the City Plan does everything it can to protect the Tower adequately against the risk of unsuitable or harmful development whilst not unduly restricting economic growth”.

The decision means that the plan, which the City described as “complete and ready for adoption”, cannot be made official policy while the minister’s direction remains in force.

Tom Sleigh, chairman of the City’s planning and transportation committee, said the decision “beggars belief”.

“The issue was examined in full more than a year ago. The inspectors heard it, and the government’s own letter does not call into question the soundness of the plan,” Sleigh said. 

“To send a complete, ready-to-adopt plan back for more hearings on a settled point is the wrong call, and the cost will be missed economic growth.”

Sleigh highlighted the role the plan plays in providing investors and developers with a framework against which plans can be made, adding: “Every month of delay is a month that certainty is missing, and schemes that were ready to proceed, with the investment behind them, are put at risk.” 

He said: “London and the UK need this Plan adopted. This was avoidable, it is wrong, and it should be put right quickly.”

The plan is aiming to diversify the Square Mile’s economy by providing 1.2 million sq m of additional office space by 2040 along with more leisure, retail and cultural space.

Historic England said it would “support the planning inspectors and the City of London Corporation to address the minister’s instructions as a matter of urgency”. 

It also sets out guidelines for building heights in the City’s eastern cluster of high-rise office buildings, which are within sight lines of the Tower of London. 

The plan proposes increasing the height limit for buildings on the southern side of the cluster, an area which is currently undergoing significant development with several tall buildings recently approved or in planning.