Developer Telford Living is now facing the prospect of two unsuccessful bids to redevelop the east London site. A previous application by HTA Design was refused by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in 2019 and rejected on appeal the following year.
The most recent submission by AHMM, which replaced HTA Design on the project in Bethnal Green, features 520 student flats, half of which would be affordable, and reduced building heights, compared with HTA’s vision.
However, the proposal came under fire during the Tower Hamlets Planning Committee meeting (21 July) and was criticised for the scale of proposals and the impact on surrounding residents and public areas.
Councillors voted unanimously to reject the officer’s recommendation to approve the application then resolved to defer a final decision until September. Planning officers have been asked to formalise the five reasons for refusal presented by the planning committee.
The most frequently aired objection was that the scheme was for student housing, rather than for permanent homes for local residents and families.
Amin Rahman, chair of the planning committee, said: ‘I am not persuaded this is the best use of the site and remain concerned that this is a large student accommodation scheme in an area with family homes and a public park.
‘I am not satisfied that the need for the scale of the development has been demonstrated or that the benefits outweigh the harm.’
Another major concern was the impact of the proposals on the daylight available to both next-door residential blocks and the surrounding Bethnal Green Gardens Conservation Area.
Rahman laid out the reasons for refusal: a missed opportunity to deliver permanent homes; unacceptable impact on neighbouring residents and the surrounding area; unacceptable harms without sufficient benefits; failure to comply with the council’s net zero policy; and adding to the area’s over-concentration of student housing.
The developer hit back against these objections, arguing the scheme would bring forward the regeneration of a brownfield plot which has been vacant for decades and is currently in a state of decay.
Representatives of Telford Living also pointed out that Queen Mary University agreed that there existed a demand for additional student accommodation.
These points were backed up by the council’s own planning officers, who had described the project as a ‘well-designed PBSA-led development that responds sensitively to its context, delivers 50 per cent affordable student accommodation and provides high quality accommodation, alongside affordable commercial and community floorspace’.
The planning officer present at the meeting on Tuesday said that the applicant had tried ‘very hard to respond to the reasons for refusal’, which had sunk the previous HTA Design proposal, and that he felt the current scheme was an ‘appropriate use of a brownfield site that has struggled to come forward for development for over a decade now’.
The officer added that the project does involve considerable carbon offsetting in service of net zero policies, and that it could not be reasonably expected for the developer to offer a higher level contribution than this.
AHMM and Telford Living have been contacted for comment.
After buying the site in 2017, Telford Homes asked HTA Design to draw up plans for 189 homes and shops to replace the 1950s LEB building with two new blocks ranging from five to 15 storeys.
However, the application for the plot in Cambridge Heath Road proved controversial. Turning down the plans, Tower Hamlets’ strategic planning committee thought the design of the housing related poorly to the neighbouring buildings, saying it was ‘out of keeping with the site context, townscape and heritage assets’.
HTA Design’s rejected proposals for London Electricity Board building (2018), credit HTA
Source: HTA
Heritage concerns had also been raised by The Twentieth Century Society, which has argued for the preservation of the LEB building, adding it to its Risk List in 2021 and making a failed bid for listed status when demolition was announced.
At the time, the campaign group noted that, although built by comparatively unknown architects (LK Watson and HJ Coates with chief assistant DS Knight), the 1950s headquarters for the electricity board remained a ‘quality building’ with a ‘striking’ façade.
In 2022 a second proposal for the site was drawn up by Allies and Morrison, though it was later withdrawn due to concerns over its commercial viability and changes to building regulations, which meant the fire escape strategy was no longer compliant.
The documents submitted for the AHMM scheme claim the refreshed proposals had addressed concerns which led to the refusal of HTA’s application.
AHMM looked at the mass and height of the proposed blocks, and their impact on nearby listed buildings: the Bethnal Green Library, the Church of St John on Bethnal Green and the Museum of Childhood.
The current application included six blocks of student accommodation: the majority fronting onto the street, ranging from four to eight storeys, and one 11-storey block to the rear of the site.
Commenting on these proposals, Historic England said it welcomed the reduction in height from previous plans but that the development would still result in increased massing, which will ‘alter the established character of the area’.
Alex Taylor, senior vice-president for development investment at TCC and head of Telford Living, said earlier this year: ‘There is a well-evidenced need for dedicated student accommodation in this area of Tower Hamlets, which is particularly close to major universities and transport connections.
‘Our plans for 520 high-quality PBSA units will directly address this demand while delivering a thoughtfully designed building that integrates positively with the surrounding area and brings wider regeneration benefits to the local community.’
The application will now be brought back in front of the Tower Hamlets Planning Committee in September, where a final vote will be cast.