Planners are seeking fresh views on the landmark police and court complex set to change the face of Fleet Street in the City of London.
The plans will see several buildings demolished to make way for the three new buildings – an eight-storey court building, 11-storey police headquarters and a building for commercial use, as well as new public realm between the sites.
The Eric Parry Architects-designed scheme has undergone changes since a planning application was lodged in December, including measures to allay access concerns of Wing Tai, the Hong Kong-based real estate investor that owns the neighbouring 8 Salisbury Square.
A new consultation is now underway to reflect those changes, as well as updates to the scheme’s environmental statement on its traffic impact.
The buildings expected to be knocked down comprise 69-71 Fleet Street, Chronicle House, 80-81 Fleet Street, 8 Salisbury Court, 1 Salisbury Square, 35 Whitefriars Street, 36-38 Whitefriars Street and Fleetbank House.
The proposals have attracted criticism from organisations including Historic England, which said in a response last month that it sees “no justification” for the demolition of 8 Salisbury Court and 1 Salisbury Square, adding: “We are not convinced that this element of harm is needed to achieve the public benefits that we acknowledge might be delivered by other aspects of the proposals.”
Historic England continued: “A strong element of significance of this part of the conservation area is the eclectic mix of historic buildings and their juxtaposition upon remnants of an historic street pattern that is generally characterised by a lack of formal planning. The demolition of these buildings is not needed to provide any of the facilities which the proposals seek to provide. They could be retained, and their retention would considerably lessen the harm to the character of the conservation area flowing from this scheme.”
In a response to Historic England, historic building consultancy Donald Insall Associates said: “The new court building will be a nationally important building that has been appropriately designed for this significant civic use. The high-quality architecture also suitably takes reference from the surrounding townscape as it responds to the Grade II-listed Reuters building.”
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