Ballymore withdraws planning application for 51-storey tower after LFB raises concerns

Tower Hamlets Council’s strategic development committee was recommended to approve the plans, which experts have warned could be dangerous in the event of a fire. However, the meeting has now been cancelled. 

A spokesperson for the council said: “Comments from the LFB were received today, which raise a number of issues that will need to be addressed. 

“The applicant has asked for more time to respond and therefore the item will no longer be considered at tonight’s meeting, and will only be brought to committee once these issues are resolved.”

The proposed 570ft tower in the Docklands would include 421 flats, 100 of which would be affordable.  

It would be two and a half times the height of Grenfell Tower, which also only had one staircase, where 72 people died in 2017.

Ballymore’s plans for Cuba Street include sprinklers, safety doors, but only a single staircase, which is allowed under building regulations in England if the strategy in the event of a fire is to stay put.  

But there is concern that if the design features intended to keep people safe fail during a fire, then there would only be a single escape route, which firefighters would also be using. 

Matt Hodges-Long, co-founder of the Building Safety Register, told Inside Housing that it would be “bonkers” to have just one staircase in the tower.  

“You might legally be able to do it, but the problem is would you want to live on the 51st floor with one escape route out of the building if the firefighters’ lift fail?"

Ballymore is the developer behind the New Providence Wharf building in Poplar, east London, which was hit by a fire last May. Following an investigation by the LFB, it was found that the ventilation system in the development caused it to act like a “broken chimney” and this led to a “potentially life-threatening situation”.  

More than 40 people had to be treated by ambulance crews and two were hospitalised after the blaze spread to multiple floors of the east London tower on 7 May, with more than 100 firefighters needed to bring it under control. 

A Ballymore spokesperson said: “As part of the planning application for our Cuba Street development, Ballymore received comments from the London Fire Brigade today, requesting clarification around aspects of the application.

“We are more than happy to provide that clarification and will continue to work closely with the LFB and local authority towards presenting the scheme for planning approval in due course.

“Like all Ballymore developments, the Cuba Street scheme will be built in full accordance with approved and emerging guidance and British Standards.”

Tower Hamlets Justice for Leaseholders (THJL), which represents people affected by the cladding crisis and which campaigned against the single staircase, said the news was a “sign of the start of a new era in fire safety and leaseholders rights in the UK”.

“We would like to thank organisations such as Grenfell United, End Our Cladding Scandal, Leasehold Knowledge Partnership and UK Action Cladding Group who have helped shine a light on the UK’s building safety crisis and campaign to bring about an end to the scandal,” the group said in a statement.