The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities issued an Article 31 notice this week on the plans for the redevelopment of the 140 and 150 London Wall sites, known as Bastion House and the former Museum of London.
The move meant the City of London Corporation Planning Applications-Sub Committee was not allowed to grant full permission for the scheme at a meeting on Wednesday while Gove mulls over calling the plans in.
An animation of how the new scheme will look
One of the existing buildings due for demolition
The committee went as far as it could and resolved to grant permission for the scheme which it said will “deliver around 56,000 sq m of much needed new office space of the highest environmental standards, to accommodate nearly 3,100 jobs. ”
Public consultation on the London Wall West proposals began in Spring 2021 and has resulted in significant changes to the scheme which now includes 13 and 16-storey towers following demolition of the current 1970s buildings.
Gove recently received a bloody-nose after refusing planning permission to M&S for the redevelopment of its flagship store at Marble Arch.
He listened to campaigners who said the building should be refurbished because of the amount of embedded carbon it contains but a High Court judge sided with the retailer.
The corporation said a Whole Life Carbon assessment of the London Wall proposals was carried out and found that demolition and redevelopment of the site achieved the most sustainable outcome.
Demolition of the existing site is expected to begin in 2028, with completion scheduled for late 2033.
Chairman of the City of London Corporation Planning and Transport Committee, Shravan Joshi, said: “Today’s resolution to grant permission for the London Wall West proposals brings us closer to our goal of meeting demand for 1.2 million square meters of new office space by 2040, a figure backed by industry experts taking into account projected jobs growth and new working from home patterns.
“The City of London is a global economic powerhouse, and it is vital we continue to signal to investors that we are keeping it that way, by delivering a centre of collaboration and innovation for the hundreds of thousands of people who work here.”
