Campaigners to appeal decision after judge finds outcome would be the same regardless of claimed planning policy breach
The High Court has refused an attempt by campaigners to bring a full judicial review against the decision to approve a DSDHA-designed office tower near the British Museum.
BC Group鈥檚 19-storey One Museum Street scheme was approved by Camden council last year despite being opposed by Historic England, the Georgian Group, Save Britain鈥檚 Heritage and the London School of Economics.
The plans, set for a mostly mid-rise area of Bloomsbury, also received more than 500 letters of objection from locals including film-maker Mike Leigh and Victorian Society president Griff Rhys Jones.
Architect and veteran campaigner James Monahan , claiming it had not adhered to requirements within national planning policies, the London Plan and the borough鈥檚 own local planning policies.
More than 60 supporters attended an initial two-and-a-half hour hearing which took place earlier this week at the Royal Courts of Justice on the Strand, with the court having to open up an upper gallery to make room for the unexpected number of attendees.
While the judge agreed with part of the campaigners鈥� arguments, she then used Section 31 of the Senior Courts Act 1981, which states that the application should be refused if the outcome would have been the same regardless of a breach of policy, to quash the case.
Monahan has decided to appeal the decision, claiming that the tower would mark the 鈥渂eginning of the end for Georgian Bloomsbury鈥� if it goes ahead.
He added: 鈥淪enior Camden politicians give every indication that they do not care about Bloomsbury but are hell-bent upon transforming this historic area into a new Canary Wharf.鈥�
The campaigner has argued the tower would damage the setting of the Bloomsbury and Covent Garden conservation areas and the nearby grade I-listed British Museum, Bedford Square and Nicholas Hawksmoor鈥檚 St George鈥檚 Church.
The mixed-use scheme would replace the 1960s Selkirk House, a 17-storey former Travelodge hotel, with 44 homes and 22,650 sq m of office space. It would also include three six-storey buildings and one five-storey block containing housing and retail space.
The judicial review is the latest bid launched by Monahan, who was part of a campaign to stop plans to redevelop parts of Covent Garden in the 1970s and 1980s.
Prior to last year鈥檚 decision to approve the scheme, Monahan, whose practice Monahan Blythen Hopkins Architects is based on Clerkenwell Road, proposed an alternative approach for the site which would see the existing Selkirk House refurbished and neighbouring buildings restored. This was not taken into consideration by the council.
The approved scheme is the third incarnation of the proposals, following earlier plans by DSDHA for a 21-storey tower on the site which were revised.
Historic England said the latest plans would still exacerbate the 鈥渧isual discordance鈥� caused by the existing building in views of the nearby historic buildings due to the proposed tower鈥檚 height and bulk.
Save Britain鈥檚 Heritage objected to the proposals because of the impact of the tower element, which is 20m higher than the existing tower, and also what it described as the scheme鈥檚 鈥渟ubstantially harmful and disproportionate鈥� carbon cost.
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