Permission for Isle of Dogs scheme quashed following legal battle

The government has quashed planning permission to build more than 1,500 homes on the Isle of Dogs following a legal battle with Tower Hamlets Council.

The London borough took action after the communities secretary Robert Jenrick approved plans to build 1,524 homes on the former Westferry Printworks on the Isle of Dogs in January.

In March, the council initiated legal action against the secretary of state, alleging that the timing of the decision appeared to show bias in deciding to allow the appeal.

The Westferry Printworks decision was made just one day before the council adopted changes to its CIL levels, which would mean the developer had to pay between £30 million and £50m more to the council.

The council asked the court to order the government to disclose documents that it argued would show the secretary of state was influenced by a desire to help the developer save money by avoiding the council’s revised Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charges.

Instead, the secretary of state chose to allow the planning permission to be quashed.

The mayor of Tower Hamlets, John Biggs said: ‘We may never know what emails and memos the secretary of state received before making his decision and what influence they had, but his reluctance to disclose them speaks volumes.

‘In siding with the developer, he went against not only the planning inspector but also the council’s strategic development committee and the residents whose lives would be directly impacted by this scheme.’

Tower Hamlet’s deputy mayor and cabinet member for planning, Cllr Rachel Blake, added: ‘This is great news for Tower Hamlets and I would like to pay tribute to the teams involved. We were shocked that in taking his decision, the secretary of state went against the government’s own planning inspector’s recommendation.

‘The timing, which meant the developer would have been able to pay significantly lower infrastructure costs than if it had been made the following week, meant we had no choice but to challenge it through the courts.’

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government commented: ‘While we reject the suggestion that there was any actual bias in the decision, we have agreed that the application will be redetermined.’

Photo Credit – Succo (Pixabay)