London office tower decision delayed

A decision on Freshwater Group’s planning proposals for the redevelopment of Tenter House at 45 Moorfields, EC2, has been pushed back – possibly by as much as two months. The scheme had been expected to come in front of the City of London Corporation’s planning applications sub-committee on 2 July. However, that meeting is also set to debate Perennial Group and Stanhope’s 1 Undershaft, EC3, and some committee members had voiced concerns that two big, controversial projects should not be heard at the same meeting. EG understands that the 2 July meeting will now focus only on 1 Undershaft. If the scheme is still heard by the sub-committee, the next scheduled meeting is on 10 September. Freshwater was granted planning permission in 2020 to redevelop Tenter House as a 19-storey office building. It now wants to extend and redevelop the existing 11-storey building as a 354,455 sq ft, part 14-storey and part 22-storey office building with retail at the ground floor. The project has had 57 public objections lodged on the City of London Corporation’s planning portal, many from residents of the nearby Barbican, and just one comment in support. Barbican Quarter Action has voiced concerns over loss of daylight as well as a “negative impact on townscape and heritage”. The Barbican Association has also objected over a loss of daylight to nearby properties. A planning officers’ report or recommendation for the scheme has yet to be published.