Tower Hamlets Council has given Northern & Shell planning permission to build out the 6.15 hectare brownfield site formerly occupied by the Westferry Printworks on the north bank of the Thames just east of the Isle of Dogs.
The plans show 1,358 homes, a 1,200 place secondary school, a rejuvenated dock front, more than two hectares of public open space together with shops, restaurants, a community centre and workspaces.
A planning application for the Westferry Printworks site has been approved last night by Tower Hamlets Council’s strategic development committee.
Mace is managing the project for Northern & Shell, from the planning and demolition through to construction and into occupation. Demolition and site enabling work have already been completed.
Construction is expected to start later this year and will be completed in four phases over six to eight years.
Westferry Printworks was the largest printing works in Europe until the business relocated in 2011, while Northern & Shell sold its newspaper interests in 2018. The company’s roots are in publishing – Penthouse and Asian Babes before seeking respectability through the Express and Star newspapers – its main commercial interest today is getting the Westferry Printworks redevelopment out of the ground.
Tower Hamlets Council has turned down two previous planning application for the scheme. In 2016 the then London mayor, Boris Johnson, overruled the council and permitted a scheme with 722 flats. Two years later Northern & Shell submitted a revised planning application, to build 1,500 flats across five tower blocks. This was again rejected by the council but in 2020 the then secretary with planning responsibility, Robert Jenrick, overturned the council again (and went against Planning Inspectorate advice in doing so). This proved controversial because Northern & Shell had given £12,000 to the Conservative Party and owner Richard Desmond had sat next to Jenrick at a Tory party fundraising dinner. Under pressure, Jenrick later reversed his decision.
Significant changes to the latest application that appear to have swayed the council include an increase in the ‘affordable’ housing element from 21% to 35% of the units.
