The High Court has overturned Tower Hamlets Council’s decision to approve an 18-storey office tower in Whitechapel designed by Foster + Partners, following a legal challenge brought by SAVE Britain’s Heritage.
The Lipton Rogers scheme at 101 Whitechapel High Street received planning approval in March last year. However, after SAVE launched a judicial review, the decision will now return to the council for reconsideration.
Councillors had voted in favour of the controversial development despite planning officers recommending refusal and nearly 300 public objections. The proposals involved retaining only the façades of several historic buildings within the Whitechapel High Street Conservation Area while constructing a 41,000sq m office tower behind them.
High Court judge Justice Mould has now ruled that the decision to grant permission was unlawful because councillors failed to provide clear and adequate reasons for approving the scheme.
Representing SAVE, Matthew Fraser of Landmark Chambers argued that councillors’ reasons for backing the project were “irrational”, based on arguments that were “unsubstantiated by any evidence” and “so generic as to be meaningless”.
Fraser said councillors had ultimately failed to properly address the planning officers’ recommendation for refusal.
Planning officers had warned that the development would be “at odds” with the surrounding townscape and suggested that, if built, the site may need to be removed from the conservation area “at a minimum” during a future review.
They also raised concerns that approving a tall building outside a designated tall buildings zone “has the potential to undermine the consistent and proper application of the Development Plan going forward, contrary to good spatial planning”.
Henrietta Billings, director of SAVE Britain’s Heritage, said the reasons councillors gave for approving the scheme against officer advice 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 against the development was also supported by Whitechapel Gallery and Toynbee Hall, both longstanding institutions in the area.
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 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 ruling marks the latest twist in a long-running planning process that has stretched on for more than nine years. Lipton Rogers first submitted plans for a 20-storey tower on the site in 2017.
Those proposals were withdrawn in 2020 and replaced with a 14-storey version, which planning officers recommended for approval but councillors later rejected after receiving more than 200 objections.
The latest scheme, submitted in February last year, was three storeys taller and again recommended for refusal. Councillors initially deferred the decision in December to allow for a site visit before eventually backing the proposals after multiple planning committee meetings.
Supporters of the scheme argued the development would make better use of a site currently used as a car park and could help reduce anti-social behaviour in the area, including alleged drug dealing.
Foster + Partners, Lipton Rogers and Tower Hamlets Council have all been approached for comment.
