Residents celebrate as Mildmay Tower appeal is withdrawn

2.43.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 17th Nov 2007

A projection of the impact of the Tower on the local area

Residents living in and around the Columbia Road area are celebrating a victory that means their local area will not be blighted by a tower which would have been out of keeping with local conservation areas.

The decision by Crisis and partners to withdraw their appeal against Tower Hamlets decision to not allow planning permission for the Mildmay Tower has been warmly welcomed by Liberal Democrat Ward Councillors, Louise Alexander, Tim O'Flaherty and Abdul Matin.

Cllr Louise Alexander said "I am so relieved that Crisis and its consortium have re realised that this development is not right for the area. This is due to the hard work of residents campaigning, fundraising for a barrister and developing the arguments. However this is not a straightforward pulling out of the site, there are conditions on any future development and I don't yet know what these are. I hope they won't include a 23-storey tower."

Cllr Tim O'Flaherty added: "While the Liberal Democrats welcomed many of the healthcare and environmental elements of the Urban Village proposal and its integration of support for homeless and vulnerable people, the physical impact of the large tower was unacceptable in this area."