Dear Steve Reed MP

Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Environment

STOP THE PROPOSED BRICK LANE DATA CENTRE AND ASSOCIATED TRUMAN BREWERY DEVELOPMENTS

We, the undersigned residents, workers, community organisations, and supporters of Brick Lane and the wider community, petition you to halt the proposed data centre on Brick Lane and all associated Truman Brewery development applications.

In July, Tower Hamlets Council democratically refused planning permission for the Truman Brewery redevelopment following significant local opposition and well-founded concerns relating to overdevelopment, environmental impact, heritage loss, infrastructure strain, and the erosion of community space. This decision reflected local planning policy, community consultation, and the will of local residents.

Despite this, during the subsequent planning inquiry, your decision to “call in” the development in October overrode both the government-appointed planning inspector and local planning authority. This extraordinary intervention undermines local democracy, disregards established planning processes, and sets a troubling precedent for central government interference in community-led decision-making.

Brick Lane is not an abstract development site. It is a living cultural, social, and economic ecosystem with deep historical significance and an internationally recognised identity. The proposed data centre and wider Truman Brewery developments threaten to:

-Intensify environmental harms through increased energy consumption, heat output, and carbon emissions
-Place unsustainable pressure on local infrastructure, transport, and public services
-Undermine Brick Lane’s historic character, independent businesses, and cultural heritage
-Displace community uses in favour of developments that deliver minimal local benefit
-Contradict Tower Hamlets’ own planning policies and climate commitments

We note Tower Hamlets Mayor Lutfur Rahman’s formal objection to your intervention and share his concern that this decision bypasses both local governance and established planning law.

We therefore call on you to:

1.Withdraw central government intervention in the Truman Brewery planning process

2. Uphold Tower Hamlets Council’s refusal of the redevelopment applications

3. Reject the proposed Brick Lane data centre and associated developments

4. Respect local democracy, planning law, and community voices

Brick Lane’s future should be shaped by the people who live, work, and care for it — not imposed through top-down ministerial override.

We urge you to act in the public interest and protect one of London’s most important cultural communities.

#SaveBrickLane