On Wednesday 11th December 2024 The City of London Corporation formally approved the planning application for London Wall West. This means that the demolition and planned redevelopment of the site can now go ahead.
With your help BQA has already raised £40,000, but we now urgently need to raise an additional £10,000 by January 18th to reach the next stage in our fight – applying to the Court for permission to seek a Judicial Review and hopefully quash this planning decision.
The City has had to delay its formal decision until now because it has been awaiting a Government decision on whether the two buildings should be listed. Disappointingly, a new Certificate of Immunity from Listing was issued by the DCMS which means the buildings are not protected.
The City remains intent on demolition and is ignoring sustainability and heritage objections. Indeed, these objections grow stronger as planning policy shifts towards retrofit solutions and the climate emergency worsens. There is no doubt that the buildings can be successfully retained and adapted. The present use of the former Museum building as an extension of the City of London School for Girls indicates their soundness and potential.
next steps
We will now prepare for a Judicial Review (JR) of the decision.
A JR will scrutinise how the decision to approve the planning application was reached and, in particular, if it was procedurally correct and complied with legislation and planning policy. We believe there were procedural failings and legal Council has advised that we have a good case.
JR has a number of stages:
1. The process can only be triggered now because the City has issued the Decision Notice. There is a strictly enforced six week time period from the date of the planning decision until our submission to the Court.
2. In the next two weeks our legal team have to write a letter to the City setting out a summary of its grounds of objection.
3. On or before January 18th our legal team will present a detailed and lengthy case file to the Court requesting permission to proceed to a JR.
4. If the Court grants permission, there would – at a date to be determined by the Court – be a formal hearing of the case, after which the Court would make its final decision and either quash or uphold the original planning decision made by the City.
We need a further £10,000 to start this next crucial stage of our fight and we need that funding to be secured before we can apply to the Court for the Judicial Review on January 18th. We cannot proceed without the funds to cover our legal costs.
Over the course of our campaign, you have helped us raise almost £40,000. This sum has enabled us to commission renowned sustainability and heritage experts and leading planning lawyers and advisors. The evidence they and we have assembled forms a key part of our preparations for JR.
This is a David and Goliath battle. We estimate that the City has so far spent at least £11 million on developing its plans for LWW. We have already delayed implementation significantly. Our continued opposition sends the City a clear message – it cannot simply sweep aside both its own and national planning policies and ignore some 900 objections.
What we do now has implications for how the City approaches future developments. Our campaign is not just about LWW. It is about ensuring that climate change and the history and heritage of our buildings are afforded due weight when planning decisions are made in the City of London.
Our local authorities must be held to account for their planning policy choices.
Please donate. Every contribution, whatever its size, will make a difference. Your support will enable us to pursue our legal fight in opposition to this shameful scheme.
We have come so far and we must not give up now.
BQA exists to fight for responsible decision-making around the built environment in the City of London – decisions that will affect many lives and many generations to come.
Thank you for your support so far and for any future donations you are able to make.
