Spitalfields development to go ahead after High Court challenge

The High Court has upheld a decision by Boris Johnson to give the green light to a highly contentious development in Spitalfields.

A planning judge upheld the former London Mayor's decision to intervene in the case of the historic Norton Folgate neighbourhood in Tower Hamlets.

Mr Johnson "called in" the plans two months after they were thrown out by Tower Hamlets council against the advice of its own planning officials.

The local authority had rejected proposals put forward by British Land last August for the Norton Folgate project on the fringes of the City of London, after receiving 550 objections from individuals.

But the mayor bypassed the council and used his powers to intervene, announcing in January that he intended to grant both planning permission for the development and listed building consent.

The development, which clears the way for seven buildings, comprising mainly office space with retail units and 45 residential flats, was opposed by campaigners led by art historian Dan Cruickshank, who successfully opposed a plan to develop the Georgian enclave of Norton Folgate in 1977 with the help of then Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman.