The building of a controversial 25-storey office block nicknamed the Slab on London’s South Bank is to go ahead after the high court upheld a decision by the former communities secretary Michael Gove to approve the development.
Mr Justice Mould dismissed a legal challenge by the Save Our South Bank group, which has been fighting the development since planning permission was first submitted in 2021.
The developers, Mitsubishi Estate, plan to turn the site of ITV’s former headquarters into offices, shops and an arts and culture space.
Save Our South Bank argued the development was unsuitable as it did not have any provision for housing, despite the location being designated as mixed use. They also pointed to the amount of carbon that demolition of the previous structures and construction of the new ones would generate, as well as the potential damage to nearby landmarks, such as the National Theatre and Somerset House.
“This judgment is a huge disappointment for anyone who loves the River Thames and South Bank,” said Michael Ball, of Save Our South Bank. “It supports Michael Gove’s wayward approval of a building about which he had great misgivings and acknowledged would harm a string of buildings of national prominence.”
In May 2023, Gove received a planning inspector’s report recommending approval for the site, but the then communities secretary did not take a decision for 10 months.
Despite disagreeing with the inspector’s view that the development “would provide a positive contribution to the townscape of the South Bank”, Gove approved the plans in February this year.
Mould’s ruling noted the reservations Gove had about the development: “He [Gove] does not consider that the proposed palette of materials and the aesthetic appearance of the building is appropriate for what is a very prominent and sensitive site. He disagrees with the inspector [that] an attractive development would be delivered.”
However, Mould concluded that while some may find these reservations “surprising”, the decision was ultimately up to Gove in his role as the planning decision-maker.
Save our South Bank said it was considering appealing against the decision.
Catherine Croft, the director of the Twentieth Century Society, which supported the Save our South Bank campaign, said: “This hugely disappointing decision gives the go-ahead to a universally derided development which will cause irreversible damage to the unique modern heritage and dynamism of London’s South Bank.
“This includes the fantastic National Theatre, Royal Festival Hall, Waterloo Bridge, and IBM building – all of which are nationally listed and much-loved postwar landmarks, now set to be overshadowed by the hulking monolith that is ‘the Slab’.”