An artist’s impression of the tower
Plans for what would be the tallest residential building in Britain, the 75-floor City Pride on the Isle of Dogs, have been put on hold to allow the developers time to answer criticisms by councillors and local people.
Tower Hamlets planning committee has deferred a decision on the application by developers Chalegrove Properties because of concerns of the height of the project, on the site of what was once only a single public house, and the lack of variety of types of housing.
Building guidelines require all residential properties in London exceeding a certain number of stories to have some floors allocated to social housing.
The original City Pride pub. Pic: Ewan Munro
The height of 239 metres of the building would make it the third tallest building in London and the highest residential building in the UK .
Over a hundred nearby residents have reportedly also objected to the plans which are 13 floors higher than a previous proposal for the site, with concerns raised over its height and density.
John Graham, 44, a retired salesman and one of the objectors, said: “If the developers were not so greedy and submitted a development with over five times the density recommendation it would have got approved. It is not about the height of the development it is about the suitability of the development. We want high quality not high volume.”
The committee has deferred a decision on the planning application until next month giving Chalegrove Properties an opportunity to to address the issues the council has identified.
Chalegrove declined to comment on the committee’s decision.
Reasons for rejection will be discussed at the next strategic development committee meeting, due to take place in July.
Designed by Squire & Partners, the building plan has been drawn up to fit in with the adjacent and already complete Landmark Towers, the tallest of which stands at 139.55 metres.
A planning precedent for a 200-metre plus building on the site already exists as previous developer’s Glenkerrin proposed a tower that won planning permission in 2009.
