Developer looks to extend planning permission on giant Ilford tower
Local Democracy Reporter
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A developer of a huge 42-storey tower in Ilford[2] is hoping to extend its planning permission after delaying building work for almost three years.
Permission for the development at the former Bodgers department store on Cranbrook Road is due to expire in September as building work has not yet started, three years after plans were approved.
Planning documents submitted last month suggest that developer Precis Advisory is concerned that planning permission will run out before “ongoing discussions” with Network Rail about demolition come to an end.
Safety concerns about demolishing the former Bodgers building directly next to the neighbouring East Anglia Mainline mean Network Rail is requiring it to be covered in specialist scaffolding before work can begin.
The developer will also have to ask for the railway body’s formal approval before piling into the ground next to the busy line.
In an application submitted last month, Precis Advisory has asked to start rebuilding the Cranbrook Road retail parade facing the station, which has recently been redesigned.
They wrote: “This allows the consent to be commenced whilst minimising the involvement of Network Rail, which could delay the implementation beyond the current planning permission.”
The new residential development, One Station Road, will contain 380 homes in a 42-storey tower with offices and retail space on the lower floors.
To meet London’s affordable housing requirements Precis Advisory also has permission to build 134 flats at the former Recorder building in High Road, Ilford.
Precis Advisory, which also owns Access Self-Storage, is a property development company controlled by four businessmen based in Jersey, Thailand and Liechtenstein.
Other safety concerns raised by Network Rail when planning permission was granted included the distance between the railway’s overhead power lines and the building.
As a result, Precis Advisory will have to submit a risk assessment of the effect of the electromagnetic fields on people living or working in the building “prior to the first occupation of the development”.
A spokesperson for the company told the Local Democracy Reporting Service its team is in constant communication with Network Rail and that a risk assessment will be carried out as required.
Network Rail declined to comment. Redbridge Council has not responded to repeated requests for comment.
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