Thank you to everyone who has donated so far to help us challenge the Secretary of State's decision to grant planning permission to the Mitsubishi Estate development on London's South Bank, disparagingly known as "The Slab".
For those who haven't you can pledge a donation here: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-our-south-bank/
We're excited to let you know that Save Our South Bank has now lodged its application for a judicial review! Read on for more about the details of our challenge and please keep sharing this page far and wide to help us reach our target.
Our challenge - heritage
From the outset, Historic England was concerned about the impact of “The Slab” on protected views of St Paul’s Cathedral.
In February, Michael Gove, Secretary of State, published his decision agreeing with the Inspector’s recommendations, but disagreeing with and expressing strong reservations about the scale, massing, materials, and townscape impact of the proposals.
He considered the development would dominate views and cause heritage harm to the South Bank conservation area, Roupell Conservation area, and to the setting and significance of 3 listed buildings - Somerset House, National Theatre, IBM.
However, he did not give his views or reasons as to the impact on protected views of St Paul's, Waterloo Bridge and five other Conservation Areas. This is the first ground of our legal challenge.
Our challenge - planning
We believe the Secretary of State misinterpreted planning policy and failed to recognise the requirement to deliver housing as part of the development. The site is allocated for mixed use including housing, and the previous consent included 213 homes.
We also assert that the Secretary of State misinterpreted planning policy when it comes to the circular economy and the requirement to consider whether the existing building on site could be retained to deliver residential uses. The construction of the development would generate 103,000 tonnes of carbon emissions.
For those who haven't you can pledge a donation here: https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/save-our-south-bank/
We are still reaching for our £15,000 target to maintain the next phase of our legal battle. In our David versus Goliath struggle, every contribution—no matter how small—counts. Your support will help us to represent our case effectively and halt this destructive project in its tracks.
Please donate generously and share our campaign with your networks. Together we can make a difference.
Thanks from the Save Our South Bank Action Group