Judge dismisses challenge to Boris-backed Norton Folgate development

The High Court has rejected claims that former London mayor Boris Johnson unlawfully took over the planning process in respect of an application by British Land to redevelop Victorian warehouses on Norton Folgate, E1, a two-acre site owned by the City of London Corporation. In what is likely to be one of the last times Johnson’s decisions will come under legal challenge, Mr Justice Gilbart dismissed a claim by a conservation group over the application, which Tower Hamlets councillors had resolved to reject amid vocal opposition, was unlawful The Spitalfields Historic Buildings Trust had attacked Johnson’s decision last September to act as planning authority for the application. He went on to resolve to grant permission in January, but no formal consent has yet been issued. Mr Justice Gilbart today rejected the trust’s claim that the statutory criteria were not met for the mayor to make a direction that he should act as planning authority. He said that an argument that the development would not have a significant impact on implementation of the capital’s spatial development strategy was “one without any merit”, due to the significance of the proposal for the “City Fringe” area. He added: “As to the question of the cross-boundary effects, the site lies within the immediate vicinity of both the City of London and of Hackney. There can be no question that there will be some effects.” British Land intends to redevelop the site, keeping six of the buildings, plus the façades from two others. The developer will use brick for the exteriors of the new buildings to make them fit in with their surroundings. The trust had argued that the proposals were not of a sufficient size to have a significant impact on the objectives of the London Plan, and that the issues raised by the scheme were of only local significance, not of capital-wide or strategic importance. However, lawyers representing the former mayor argued last month that it is important to deliver strategic office development in City fringe areas, where opportunities to do so are finite. British Land’s Norton Folgate site The two-acre site is bounded by Elder Street, Folgate Street, Blossom Street, Norton Folgate, Shoreditch High Street and Commercial Street, E1. The total proposed development covers 350,000 sq ft, and comprises: • 257,225 sq ft offices • 13 shops • 40 flats • 15,000 sq ft of public space