A new tall building site by Liverpool Street is being recommended to be included in the City of London Corporation's forthcoming Local Plan effectively earmarking it for more skyscrapers.
Referred to as the “Broadgate Tall Building Site” in documents, it would become the third area in the Square Mile designated as suitable for skyscrapers. It would not be a cluster, such as that found by the Gherkin or in the Fleet Valley, but would instead be a far smaller spot with space for perhaps a couple of large developments.
One major scheme, 2 Finsbury Avenue, which will consist of two towers at 21 and 36 storeys tall, has already been approved in the area.
A spokesperson for the City of London Corporation said its Plan "will enable both growth and heritage to flourish, carefully balancing the one with the other".
The potential new tall building site in the north of the Square Mile first emerged during the hearings for the City Plan 2040, as the Local Plan is to be named, earlier this year.
Covering everything from transport and development to the management of green spaces, the draft plan featured an extensive list of strategic priorities and objectives including becoming a net zero city and adding more than a million square metres of office floorspace.
A previous draft, City Plan 2036, was proposed and consulted on in 2021 having been worked on since 2016. The Corporation however chose to not submit it to the Secretary of State for final approval due to a number of issues raised during consultation.
The revised Draft City Plan was submitted last August and examined in public by Planning Inspectors Alastair Phillips and Jameson Bridgwater. The hearings reviewed the topics covered in the draft plan, with Corporation officers and various stakeholders making representations over a number of sessions.
Following the hearings the Inspectors were tasked with reviewing the draft plan and providing any changes, or 'modifications', necessary to make it sound.
In documents published ahead of next week's Local Plans Sub-Committee meeting, Corporation officers have written that a total of 178 changes have been agreed by the Inspectors and recommended to the City, 68 of which relate to the soundness of the plan.
Many of these relate to the topic of heritage and tall buildings, which dominated the hearings, such as how to interpret the Tower of London's Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) and assessing the setting of St Paul's Cathedral.
Another notable recommended addition is the tall building site in Broadgate, which is located right on the border with Hackney in the north-eastern corner of the Square Mile.
The next steps involve the Corporation approving a six-week consultation to be held on the main modifications, which is to be wound up by the end of January next year. Responses will then be collated and sent to the Inspectors the following month, with a final report expected back in May followed by the plan's adoption by the City.
A City of London Corporation spokesperson said: "Following extensive public hearings earlier this year, the Planning Inspectors have issued their list of modifications to the City Plan. These are few in number, limited in scope and fully align with the key aims of the plan, which are to celebrate the Square Mile's heritage as the historic heart of London, whilst recognising it as a world-leading business district.
"The plan's City Cluster tall buildings envelopes policy remains unchanged, except for an increase in the height of the envelope on the southern side of the cluster. Another modification includes the identification of an additional site that could be suitable for a tall building on the Broadgate estate at the northern tip of the City, as we seek to deliver the minimum requirement of 1.2m sqm of Grade A, best-in-class office space, across the Square Mile.
"The City Corporation will be an enabler of planning, operating in a system that carefully balances growth and heritage. The City Plan will enable both growth and heritage to flourish, carefully balancing the one with the other. This is the way the City has always been, and with the proposed modifications in alignment with our own objectives and the Government's growth mission, we are confident City Plan will successfully set an evidence-based blueprint for the future development of the Square Mile."
The City Plan 2040 hearings drew significant concerns about the potential impacts on some heritage assets in the Square Mile. One site referenced repeatedly was Bevis Marks Synagogue in Aldgate, the oldest continuously-run synagogue in the UK.
Rabbi Shalom Morris, speaking at the hearings, described Bevis Marks as a "national treasure" which would be compromised if its view of the sky was crowded out by nearby development.
The proposed Broadgate tall building site is not far from Liverpool Street Station, for which controversial redevelopment plans were submitted with the City of London Corporation earlier this year. Network Rail's proposed scheme, drawn up by architecture firm Acme, would see the construction of a 19-storey office block above the concourse as well as a host of changes to the station itself, such as more ticket barriers and lifts.
It has, however, drawn significant criticism from a variety of heritage groups, with Simon Sturgis, founder of Targeting Net Zero and a Government advisor, recently authoring a report claiming the scheme fails to meet key carbon emission policies and should be refused.
A spokesperson for Network Rail said Liverpool Street Station is overdue a required transformation, and that the investment will allow it to grow by 30 per cent a year "while enhancing accessibility for all".
