The report issued by the Council's planning officers recommended approval for the redevelopment but members voted against this recommendation at committee and resolved to refuse to grant planning permission.
"The development is not of exemplary high quality design, has a density significantly exceeding the range normally permitted and fails to adequately take into account its context and the wider environment and would therefore be harmful to the character and visual amenity of the area," the decision letter said.
"The application [failed] to adequately demonstrate why no affordable housing [had] been provided, it [failed] to make adequate provision for children’s play and recreation and [failed] to provide a satisfactory waste management strategy," it said.
Developer Copland Estates proposed demolishing an existing car park site and erecting a 28-storey building and converting the upper floors of Trocoll House from offices to 198 residential units and providing some commercial floor space at ground floor level.
If the mayor wants to call in a decision related to a development of this size the proposal must have a significant impact on the implementation of the London Plan and there must be sound planning reasons for intervention.
According to the mayor's planning report "the scheme is an example of town centre intensification through regeneration, which is supported by the London Plan… and the Town Centres [Supplementary Planning Guidance]".
"The proposed delivery of up to 198 new housing units on this site would be a clear benefit not only to housing delivery at a borough level, but also that of London as a whole, contributing 16% of Barking and Dagenham’s Council’s annual average target. The proposal would therefore have a significant impact on the implementation of the London Plan and supplementary planning guidance to the London Plan."
According to the mayor's decision letter to Barking and Dagenham Council, he also has to consider "targets identified in development plans… [He] recognises that Barking and Dagenham has struggled to meet its London Plan housing targets over the last five years. Although [he] acknowledged that the recent recession has affected housing delivery in this borough. [He] also acknowledged that the awarding of Housing Zone status and funding will have a positive impact on housing delivery in the borough."
"The development would have a significant impact on the implementation of the London Plan" and "there are sound planning reasons for [his] intervention".
Planning expert Victoria Lindsay of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com said "The mayor's power to call in a planning application has historically been used rather sparingly but we have seen Johnson call in several planning applications recently, most notably in Putney, Hackney and Tower Hamlets."
"These have often been controversial politically. However, the timing is good for the applicant as this decision puts them near the front of the queue as the window for call-in during mayor Johnson's period of office rapidly closes" said Lindsay.