Out-Law News 1 min. read
21 May 2015, 4:02 pm
Clark has issued the notice in his first week in office as secretary of state for communities and local government. The effect of the notice is that the Council cannot proceed to grant planning permission for King's College's proposed development. This will give Clark time to consider the proposed plans in detail and decide whether or not to call in the plan and hold a public inquiry.
Westminster City Council resolved to grant planning approval for King's College's plans in April 2015.
The scheme includes the demolition and rebuilding of 154 – 158 Strand and 152 – 153 Strand, the façade of 152 – 153 will be retained as this is a grade II listed building. The redevelopment will include a new academic building, a public venue, alterations and extensions to the current buildings, works to the Quadrangle building and a link to Somerset House East Wing. The proposal will provide an additional 3,700 square metres of teaching space.
Historic England said that "the public benefits arising from this scheme outweigh the loss of significance caused by the demolition of the unlisted buildings and the harm which this may cause to the conservation area."
However, several groups have raised concerns regarding the redevelopment and have urged Clark to call in the plans.
Campaign group Save Britain's Heritage has set up an online petition asking Clark to exercise his powers and call in the proposal. Other groups opposing the redevelopment include the Ancient Monument Society, the Victorian Society and the Somerset House Trust.
A spokeswoman for King's College said, "ahead of submitting [the] planning application [they]held numerous meetings and follow up discussions with neighbouring cultural organisations, local businesses, politicians and heritage organisations, as well as hosting a public exhibition. [They] took all the feedback received on [the] draft plans into consideration before submitting [the] final application.
"[They] also noted that planning consent had been granted on two previous occasions in 1992 and 1998 for the demolition of the unlisted properties at 154/158 the Strand and demolition and reconstruction behind the façade of the Listed properties at 152/153 The Strand," the spokeswoman said.
Planning expert Alexis Coleman of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said: "It will be interesting to follow whether the secretary of state ultimately calls in this application to decide it for himself, given Historic England's position of support for the proposal. Other call-ins that have included heritage grounds, such as the Shell Centre, are often very much driven by Historic England, however, in this case it says it has had 'highly constructive' discussions with King's College for several years with respect to this development and concluded that the harm caused was outweighed by the public benefits of the scheme."