The Planning Court has dismissed a challenge brought by Sainsbury’s over its failure to secure planning permission to demolish and redevelop its Whitechapel store, due to concerns over the quality of affordable housing provision in the scheme.
The London Borough of Tower Hamlets failed to determine the application in respect of the site at 1 Cambridge Heath Road, London E1, in time, and – despite a planning inspector recommending approval – the secretary of state for housing, communities and local government dismissed the supermarket chain’s appeal.
It took the matter to court, hoping to revive its plans to replace its existing store and car park with a new supermarket, an “explore learning” facility, flexible retail/office/community floorspace, 471 residential units arranged in eight blocks, 240 “retail” car parking spaces and other development.
However, Mrs Justice Lang has now dismissed the claim brought by Sainsbury’s. She said that the inspector’s findings had been firmly against Sainsbury’s on the issue of affordable housing, and so were the findings of the secretary of state.
She said: “They found significant flaws in the affordable housing scheme; not mere details which could be easily resolved.”
In addition, she said that the secretary of state “rightly took into account the fact that other matters weighed against the grant of permission”, adding: “He found that the proposal was not in accordance with the development plan overall, and there were material considerations against the proposal, as well as in favour. Therefore, it was far from certain that addressing the distribution of affordable housing would have decisively altered the planning balance in the claimant’s favour.”
The judge found that the secretary of state’s reasons “were both intelligible and adequate” and that Sainsbury’s had “failed to establish any prejudice from the alleged weakness in the reasons”.
In February 2018, following the council’s failure to decide the application, its Strategic Development Committee resolved that it would have refused the application on grounds including: affordable housing and viability; harm to the setting of the listed Albion Yard Brewery and the Whitechapel Market Conservation Area in views from Whitechapel Road; and unacceptable impact on daylight and sunlight to surrounding properties.
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