Stop the Towers Campaign

U+I Challenge the Secretary of State’s Decision!

Dear supporters,

What a turn of events, the developer U+I has decided to take the Secretary of State to court!

It seems that in pursuit of their greedy development, and despite being turned down by a public inquiry and the government, they will not stop.

Greed it seems has no limits and deep pockets. On 4th August 2021 U+I submitted a claim for proceedings under s288 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 against the Secretary of State’s decision to REFUSE planning permission at 8 Albert Embankment.

So U+I and the London Fire Brigade are continuing to pursue their 'departure' from planning policy application - 3 towers over 30m and 2 skyscrapers at nearly 90m, putting 400+ local residents below national BRE daylight standards and causing great damage to local, national and even world heritage.

We will let you know what happens in court, but if you want to know more about this type of legal action please see below:

Is this a Judicial Review?

No, it is not a JR (Judicial Review). It is a statutory challenge under section 288 of the 1990 Planning Act to the High Court, arguing that certain legal aspects of the cases have not been properly considered and/or decided by the Secretary of State.

Will the court look at the planning merits of the decisions?

No. The court can only look at the strict legal aspects of the cases. For example, did the Secretary of State legally carry out the process correctly when he assessed the planning balance on heritage matters? The Judge will not be able to consider the planning merits.

How successful are challenges?

In 2017, for example, there were 192 challenges, only 14 of which succeeded and 24 failed (38 in total). The remaining cases (154) never even made it to a full hearing as the court decided at the initial review stage that they were of no merit and should not even be considered.

What will happen if U+I succeeds?

The Judge can only remit (send back) the decision to the Secretary of State to decide it again. The Secretary of State will then have to correct any legal concerns.

How long will it take?

Anywhere between 6 months (if the court rules the challenge has no merit) to 18 months for a full hearing and judgement.

We had hoped in September to start working with the London Fire Brigade and other local stakeholders towards a new and better plan for these sites.
We had hoped no further public money would be spent pursuing a 'departure' from policy planning application.

We thank you all again for your continuing support.

We won't give up!

Many thanks
LAMBETH VILLAGE PEOPLE
For more information see our website

Dear donors,

Finally the long wait is over! ... the Secretary of State Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP has made a decision to REFUSE planning permission for the proposed development at 8 Albert Embankment. He did so based on the public inquiry in December 2020 and the recommendations of the planning inspector's report that followed the inquiry - some 200 pages long.

Your donations were critical to us having representation at the public inquiry, having expert witnesses on heritage, daylight and industrial land uses so we could put the case against the development, in the face of opposition from the developer U+I, the London Fire Brigade and Lambeth Council.

Residents whose lives would have been blighted by this greedy, tall and hyper-dense development are very relieved; important heritage assets including Lambeth Palace and the Westminster World Heritage Site are no longer threatened by the proposals impacts.

A significant issue in the decision was residential daylight, highlighted as recently as 13th June in the Observer.

theguardian.com/society/2021/jun/13/our-kids-need-daylight-families-fight-the-towers-leaving-uk-homes-in-shadow

You can see coverage of the announcement here:

Architect’s Journal
architectsjournal.co.uk/news/jenrick-rejects-pilbrow-partners-plans-for-former-london-fire-brigade-hq?eea=clo3NjhaS1Z2ckp3b2VXcnZCdnRWU0Vwejgydkk1a0xVWUk5Q3B4eU44RT0=&n_hash=853&mkt_tok=NDA3LUlYQi01MjkAAAF93DJ2zW4BqJBJiiZwES2BKOPb0CluuF_ysICis2MMJ4FOMq0g0YFmbEizvtX0zofzF_v6Y9FlSvcVJ6bp04bBoP_l_t2d6_JKVzjAtPwQFKmFsQ

Construction News
theconstructionindex.co.uk/news/view/jenrick-nixes-developers-500m-albert-embankment-plan

London SE1
london-se1.co.uk/news/view/10563

Many many thanks for your donations. You made it happen!
LAMBETH VILLAGE

For more information see our website

lambethvillage.co.uk/2021/06/24/news-flash-secretary-of-state-rt-hon-robert-jenrick-refuses-planning-permission/

You helped us make our case!

Dear donors,

We hope that you are keeping well and we thank you again for the generous donation you have made to this campaign.

As a result of your support the Lambeth Village community were represented at the Public Inquiry into 8 Albert Embankment; to make our case against the proposed skyscraper development, which robs us of daylight and casts aside important heritage.

The inquiry started on Tuesday 1st December and ended on Friday18th December 2020. It looked at a range of issues with the proposed development including design, heritage impacts on the London Fire Brigade art deco HQ (8 Albert Embankment), other local heritage assets such as Lambeth Palace, the Westminster World Heritage Site, also the sun and daylight of local residents (where 400 windows fall below BRE standards) and the impacts on other issues like transport, affordable housing and industrial land.

You can watch all of this on YouTube and honest it is gripping! ....all episodes at: youtube.com/results?search_query=3254203+%26+3257106+-+Lambeth+Virtual+Inquiry

You can see and hear members of the community speaking from 2pm on Thursday 10th December here: youtube.com/watch?v=BYncw-P5nvc

It will be some time before we know the outcome of the public inquiry and the decision of the Secretary of State, Rt Hon Robert Jenrick MP, but as soon as we do we will update again.

Want more information see our website lambethvillage.co.uk/ or do get in touch lambethvilage@gmail.com

Note:

We were represented at the public inquiry into 8 Albert Embankment by:

Michael Ball from Waterloo Community Development Group (WCDG) acting as our advocate

Paul Velluet expert witness on heritage issues (M.Litt., RIBA, IHBC, Chartered Architect)

Dr Paul Littlefair expert witness on daylight (and author of the BRE guide to assessing sun and daylight impacts)

Dr Jess Ferm expert witness on industrial land uses in London (UCL College)

Christopher Woodward the Director of the Garden Museum

David Crawforth one of the co-Directors at Beaconsfield Gallery