Planning powers over Olympic Games grounds return to Tower Hamlets
Planning powers to build affordable homes are set to be transferred back to Tower Hamlets council for the first time since the 2012 Olympic Games.
In December 2024, Tower Hamlets Council is set to regain planning control in neighbourhoods such as Fish Island and Bromley by Bow which it hasn’t built homes in since the 2012 Olympic Games.
Since 2012, some parts of Fish Island and Bromley by Bow in Tower Hamlets have been under the planning control of the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), a planning authority that was set up on the back of the Olympic Games to regenerate areas surrounding Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
The LLDC is currently responsible for managing Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and also has planning powers in some parts of Newham, Waltham Forest and Hackney, which together with Tower Hamlets are known as the four ‘Growth Boroughs’.
Last year the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan announced that he intends to transfer town planning powers back to the four boroughs on December 1, 2024.
The move will need to go to parliament while Mr Khan will need to prepare a Statutory Transfer Scheme (STS) under Section 216 of the Localism Act 2011.
According to a Tower Hamlets cabinet report, the scheme will include a list of everything that needs to be transferred including records of planning decisions, un-determined planning applications, planning enforcement cases, appeals, planning obligation agreements and receipts as well as Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) receipts.
Mr Khan has asked all of the boroughs to confirm that they approve of the transfer. The transfer was the subject of a Tower Hamlets Council cabinet meeting on Wednesday 25 October.
Discussing the transfer at the council’s headquarters in Whitechapel yesterday evening, the mayor of Tower Hamlets, Lutfur Rahman said the move had been ‘long overdue’.
Aspire councillor, Kabir Ahmed, who is the Cabinet member for regeneration, inclusive development and housebuilding, was introducing the report to the room. He said the council will have a ‘lead role in shaping the future of Fish Island and Bromley by Bow.’
Cllr Ahmed said: ‘We’re literally one year away and at that point, the council will resume its planning authority role for areas such as Fish Island, Bromley by Bow and [other] areas covered by the LLDC since 2012.
‘The return of planning powers will ensure that Tower Hamlets will have the lead role in shaping the future of Fish Island and Bromley by Bow by increasing our capacity to deliver housing, affordable housing, regeneration and place-making that supports our community.’
Mayor Rahman said: ‘… it’s about time, it’s long overdue and I think we should support this.’
Cabinet members proceeded to approve the report, meaning the council is in support of the transfer which will see it regain planning control at the end of 2024.
For more on the Olympic Park, read Ten years of the Olympic Park: were promises met?
