The Planning Committee (Major Applications) B of Southwark Council met on Wednesday 6 March 2024 and granted planning permission for a significant mixed-use development at the Tower Bridge Business Complex. The committee also considered and approved minutes from previous meetings.

Tower Bridge Business Complex Development Approved

The committee granted planning permission for a major mixed-use development at the Tower Bridge Business Complex located at 100 Clements Road, also known as the Biscuit Factory, and the Bermondsey Campus Site on Keetons Road, SE16 4DG. The approved plans involve the demolition, alteration, and extension of existing buildings, alongside the erection of new structures. This comprehensive scheme will deliver new dwellings (Class C3), flexible commercial and community spaces (Class A1/A3/A4/B1/D1/D2), and a new secondary school.

The development also includes communal amenity space, landscaping, children's playspace, car and cycle parking, plant installations, and new pedestrian and servicing routes, including two new pedestrian routes through the Railway Arches. An outline planning permission was also granted for further development, encompassing new homes and flexible multi-use floorspace.

Key amendments to a previous planning permission (17/AP/4088) include an increase in the total number of homes from 1536 to 1624, with an enhanced provision of social rent homes. Changes have also been made to the massing and architecture, the quantum and allocation of non-residential floorspace, and the removal of block R and its associated basement. The revised plans also feature updated public realm, playspace, and tree planting provisions, enhanced fire strategies for each building, increased communal spaces for residents, reconfigured parking, and a revised energy and overheating strategy. The application was accompanied by an Environmental Statement, as required by the Town and Country Planning (Environmental Impact Assessment) Regulations 2017¹.

During the meeting, officers presented the report and addendum report, and committee members posed questions. Objectors, applicant representatives, and supporters of the application all addressed the committee and answered questions. Councillor Emily Tester, the ward councillor, also provided a statement. A statement from Councillor Leo Pollak was read, highlighting the application's significance and outlining further concerns. Ultimately, a motion to grant the application was carried.

The decision to grant planning permission is subject to revised conditions to those on the 2020 permission and the completion of a new Section 106 legal agreement. The Director of Planning and Growth has been authorised to make minor modifications to the conditions during detailed negotiations with the applicant. The committee also agreed to take the environmental information into account and ensure due regard to potential equalities impacts. The Director of Planning and Growth is required to notify the Secretary of State of the decision and place a statement on the statutory register detailing the main reasons for the decision. If the requirements of the permission are not met by 6 June 2024, the Director of Planning and Growth is authorised to refuse planning permission.

Previous Minutes Approved

The minutes from the meetings held on 14 June 2023 and 31 January 2024 were agreed by the committee.