Mayor to decide future of major East London property development

Plans for a major property development next to Canary Wharf, which could provide thousands of new jobs and help fund Crossrail, is to be decided by the Mayor. It follows the decision by Tower Hamlets council to refuse the developer’s planning application on 4th August 2009.

Using his new planning powers the Mayor has 'called in' the proposal for Columbus Tower, which includes 31,000 square metres of office space, a 192 room hotel and over 70 apartments. The Mayor believes the development is of major strategic importance for the whole of London and will now scrutinise the application and make a final decision.

This is the first time that the Mayor has exercised his new powers since he was elected.

The Mayor said:

"This is a decision I have not taken lightly, however the Columbus Tower proposal clearly meets the test of a planning application of major significance to the whole of London. Canary Wharf and the Isle of Dogs form a key part of my economic development strategy and I have also made it clear that I consider Canary Wharf to be suitable for tall buildings. There is already a planning consent for a tall building on this site and the development itself would deliver a significant contribution to Crossrail, the most important new infrastructure project London has seen since the first tube tunnels were dug by the Victorians. For these reasons, I believe this application requires me to scrutinise it in greater detail.”

Until April 2008, when considering planning applications submitted to him, the Mayor could either leave London's local borough planning committees to decide whether to approve or refuse them or, if they did not conform with London Plan policies, direct the borough to refuse them. Since then, where development proposals have implications for the capital as a whole, his new powers allow him to completely take over such planning applications from local planning authorities.