Bow Wharf : Lower tribunal hearing

In December 2025 Tower Hamlets refused planning permission for the conversion of the banqueting venue into flats, the demolition of three timber buildings providing employment space, and the construction of two mainly privately owned blocks of flats (shown in the image above.)

The site owner, the Canal and River Trust, had previously appealed against a decision of the Information Commissioner requiring the Trust to make a fresh response to the Forum’s request for the 2019 heritage report on Bow Wharf. The report was commissioned by the H20 Urban partnership, which is jointly owned by the Trust and the private developer, ‘bloc.’ The Trust’s position is that it does not ‘hold’ the heritage report because it’s held by the H20 Urban partnership. If this is correct, it would mean the report falls outside the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), and the Trust  doesn’t have to share the report.

A judge in the lower tribunal of the General Regulatory Chamber will hear the case online at 2pm on Wed.1st July. It’s possible for the public to observe the hearing, but a request in advance is required:

Email: grc@justice.gov.uk

Your email should include: the case reference:FT/EA/2025/0429

The hearing date: Ist July 2026. That you are a member of the public requesting observer access, your full name

The decision is likely to come a few weeks after the hearing.