The proposals are by a joint venture between Chelsfield and London and Regional and were approved by Lambeth Council in November last year. Under the plans, the existing 1960s office block on the site would be demolished and two new buildings constructed, including a 29-storey tower, to comprise 142 homes and 88,649 square metres of office space.
The Department for Communities and Local Government sent a letter to the Council in March in which it said that the SoS would not be calling in the application, because it said the development proposals would not have any significant effects beyond the "immediate locality".
The decision came in spite of calls by both English Heritage and the Council for the SoS to call in the proposals for determination. English Heritage has objected to the proposals because it says the development would have a negative impact on views from the Westminster World Heritage site.
“We would not challenge the Government unless we thought this was a major issue, we have to act now or face losing the unique vista of one of Britain’s most important historical sites which is photographed by millions of visitors every year," said the Council's deputy leader Robert Davis according to Property Week.
“Unesco may put the area around Parliament Square on its endangered list – the Government need to rethink before it is too late and we need to have an open debate in public on this issue,” he said.
