The Greater London Authority has ruled that Wandsworth Council’s application to build a 14-storey tower on the Lennox Estate does not comply with the London Plan, strengthening objectors’ case and increasing the likelihood of mayoral intervention if the council attempts approval.
The Lennox Estate GLA ruling [pdf], issued on January 26, identifies five major policy failures including a statutory biodiversity requirement the application admits it cannot meet. The Deputy Mayor for Planning found the scheme “does not yet fully comply” with London planning policy, triggering a process that could see the Mayor of London block or call in the decision.
The finding [pdf] confirms what we identified in our analysis of the application: the council is proposing development that violates its own planning rules. All 287 public comments on the application were objections. Not one resident supported the scheme.
Five policy failures identified
The GLA Stage 1 report documents failures across biodiversity, building height, heritage protection, energy policy, and parking standards.
The most serious is biodiversity net gain. The Environment Act 2021 mandates a 10% improvement in biodiversity for all new development. This has been law since February 2024. The application admits it cannot meet this statutory requirement, showing a 0.02 watercourse units shortfall. The GLA notes this “must be addressed” before any approval.
The 14-storey tower violates tall building policy. The London Plan permits tall buildings only on sites specifically designated for them. This site is not designated. The plan sets a maximum height of four storeys (12 metres) for buildings in general areas. The tower would be 14 storeys. The council’s own heritage advisors already recommended refusal citing this impact.
The scheme would harm the Grade II listed Priory Hospital, a heritage asset protected by law. The GLA confirms the harm exists and must be justified under heritage policy.
Energy and sustainability policies show multiple breaches. The application fails to comply with London Plan policies SI2 (minimising greenhouse gas emissions), SI3 (energy infrastructure), SI4 (managing heat risk), SI13 (sustainable drainage), and SI5 (water infrastructure). Each failure must be resolved.
Parking provision exceeds permitted levels. The application proposes 40 car parking spaces. London Plan policy sets a maximum of 20 spaces for a development of this size and type. The GLA requires this to be reduced or justified with evidence the council has not provided.
What mayoral intervention means
The GLA ruling changes the planning process fundamentally. If Wandsworth’s planning committee votes to approve the application despite these failures, the council cannot issue planning permission. It must refer the decision back to the Mayor of London.
This is Stage 2 of the GLA planning process. The Mayor then has 14 days to decide between three options: allow the council’s decision to stand, direct the council to refuse the application (Article 6), or call in the application and become the decision-maker himself (Article 7).
The combination of statutory biodiversity failure, tall building policy breach, and heritage harm makes intervention more likely than for applications with minor policy concerns. The GLA has explicitly told the council these issues “must be addressed” before approval could be considered.
The council could withdraw the application and submit a revised scheme addressing the GLA’s concerns. It could reduce the tower height, remedy the biodiversity shortfall through off-site measures, redesign to reduce heritage harm, improve energy performance, and cut parking spaces. Whether these changes would still deliver 81 affordable homes at viable cost is unclear.
Alternatively, the council could proceed to committee and argue the failures are outweighed by housing need. Given the planning committee includes councillors who serve on the cabinet that commissioned this scheme, and that the council is simultaneously applicant and decision-maker, the political pressure to approve may prove stronger than planning policy.
Background: Protected open space
Application 2025/4170 proposes 81 affordable homes in two buildings up to 14 storeys on the Lennox Estate in Roehampton. The site is designated Protected Open Space in Wandsworth’s Local Plan, adopted in 2023 specifically to prevent building on it.
Between 1989 and 1994, Lennox Estate residents defeated six planning applications from a private developer who had purchased The Green for £419,000. More than 880 residents signed petitions. A Planning Inspector ruled in 1992 that the estate was “deficient in accessible open space” and housing need could not override protection where there was “demonstrable local deficiency.”
The council is now proposing to build on the same land its own inspectors said must be protected.
How to track this application
You can monitor the application’s progress through Wandsworth Council’s planning portal (search for application 2025/4170) and the GLA’s planning decisions page (search for GLA/2025/1037/S1).
If the council schedules a planning committee hearing, residents can register to speak. The committee must give objectors the opportunity to present their case before voting.
If you want to raise concerns with councillors, contact your ward councillors or the Cabinet Member for Housing, Councillor Aydin Dikerdem (cllr.a.dikerdem@wandsworth.gov.uk).
If the application proceeds to Stage 2 after committee approval, the GLA will accept further representations. Contact the Mayor’s planning team at planning.enquiries@london.gov.uk with reference GLA/2025/1037/S1.
The Lennox Estate GLA ruling makes clear that the council’s own planning application fails to meet the standards it enforces on private developers. Whether the council will withdraw, revise, or push ahead regardless will reveal how seriously it takes its own policies.
