Spitalfields and Banglatown masterplan SPD

Latest update - 4th December 2023

This page will be updated regularly. In the meantime, please hit the ‘subscribe’ button mid-way down the column on the right side of this page, or register at bricklanemasterplan@towerhamlets.gov.uk for further updates.

Welcome to the engagement page for the Spitalfields and Banglatown masterplan Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). This project was previously named the Brick Lane Central masterplan.

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has commissioned Metropolitan Workshop and Office S&M Architects for the second stage of work in developing a new masterplan for most of the Spitalfields and Banglatown ward.

Why is this SPD needed?

Brick Lane and the wider Spitalfields and Banglatown area is internationally recognised, with a rich and diverse history. Its vibrant character is made up of heritage buildings, restaurants and shops, markets and businesses, and most importantly, its people. The area is of special significance to the Bangladeshi community, who form a large part of the local population. It is also a central and urban area that has evolved over time, experiencing particularly rapid change in recent years.

A strong commercial hub has evolved around the Truman Brewery Estate, with a fashion, food and drink, entertainment, and creative industry focus. Whilst these uses reflect the area’s role as a town centre, certain challenges have arisen around Brick Lane. These include development pressures that have affected the local community, and balancing competing needs and priorities, with many local residents and businesses expressing concern about the nature and direction of development in the cultural heart of Banglatown.

While Brick Lane is generally designated as a commercial area, the council is looking at ways to maximise opportunities for appropriate residential development - to be social rented and affordable, where possible. This is in response to the scale and pace at which change has occurred in the area. It is designed to ensure that local communities have opportunity to remain in their area and to deepen the involvement of the community in the development process.

This masterplan has been prepared to respond to existing challenges and provide guidance to help manage change in the area.

How have we involved you so far?

As part of the early engagement strategy, we held a series of preliminary workshops, meetings, and discussions. The purpose of these events was to set out the aims, scope, and programme of the project, and to understand the objectives and concerns of all stakeholders. The information gathered during this process is informing the shape, content, and direction of the next stages of the masterplan.

What have we learned from the first round of early engagement?

Early engagement held in May and June of this year drew a huge amount of interest in the project from the community – including a well-attended in-person Q&A session, several email submissions from and interviews with local stakeholders, a successful pop-up stall, and over 550 survey responses.

Early feedback was comprehensive, with a range of issues covered that came from a wide variety of people and groups – often with differing approaches and opinions.

Consistent messages from the community that we heard include:

• The original masterplan area seemed small and exclusive. As a result, people questioned whether it would be meaningful or effective.
• There is a need to provide more social and affordable housing in the area.
• People generally like the built form and grain of the Brick Lane area.
• Green space is a significant priority, as well as greening streets and smaller spaces.
• Services should be embedded in the area – whether they are council-run, or community-run with council support.
• Local business should be supported – allowing existing ones to adapt and helping new ones to emerge – and new developments should be designed to accommodate local uses.
• The area’s historical and cultural identity should be retained, but without keeping things permanently or exactly as they are.

You can find a summary of early engagement under the heading ‘documents’, in the sidebar on the right of this page, titled 'Early engagement summary factsheet'.

How has early engagement shaped the project?

In response to the feedback received, we have expanded the masterplan boundary further south to Whitechapel Road, and to the east and west of Brick Lane – as well as introducing an ‘area of influence’ that covers most of the Spitalfields and Banglatown ward.

We have also committed to holding a second round of early engagement with the community in November and December 2023. These events are an opportunity for you to review preliminary baseline evidence work and high-level guidance that might go into the masterplan SPD, before we move on to formal or ‘statutory consultation’ in the new year.

To hear more about the results from the first stage of engagement, meet the new team of consultants taking on the next phase of work, and comment on the progress of the masterplan SPD’s guidance and principles, please register to attend an in-person or online event – more details on this below.

How can you continue to be involved?

We have now held two in-person workshops and an online webinar, which were part of a second stage of early engagement that is running from 6 November to 15 December 202. This second round will help us ensure the principles and guidance we’re developing are consistent with your aspirations and priorities for the area. These events also provided an opportunity for the public to meet the consultant team brought on board for the second phase of the project.

You can find the presentations from the first workshop and webinar by going to the right sidebar of this page, under the heading ‘Documents’.

The second presentation contains some high-level, exploratory options for development across the masterplan area. It is important to note these are illustrative only – they do not guarantee that planning applications will come forward, or that applications proposing such forms would be I approved without question. Any future planning applications will need to comply with local plan and SPD policies – including land use, amenity, conservation, and design & character, amongst many others.

Once the second round of early engagement is complete in mid-December, it will be followed by a formal ‘statutory consultation’, where all stakeholders will be invited to comment on the Draft Masterplan, either in writing or via workshops and events.

How does this SPD relate to the Local Plan and what influence can it have?

The Tower Hamlets Local Plan (2031) was adopted in 2020 and the London Plan in 2021. These overarching frameworks contain several spatial polices, development management policies and site allocations to guide and manage development in the borough – including housing, open space, and town centres, and so on.

Whilst the Local Plan sets out the borough’s strategy and objectives for planning policy in the Spitalfields and Banglatown area, the masterplan will be developed to provide additional, detailed guidance, that has been refined based on existing policies.

The proposed masterplan will be developed in a manner that will allow the borough to adopt its findings into a Supplementary Planning Document (SPD). The finished SPD will be a key document for the delivery of many of the priorities and objectives of the council for the Spitalfields and Banglatown area.

The key principles that will underpin the development and implementation of the masterplan are the delivery of affordable housing and community services, promotion of local businesses and employment, retention and enhancement of history and culture, provision of green and open spaces and urban greening, ensuring cultural sensitivity and cohesion, and providing a forum for community consultation.

Across the masterplan SPD area, there may be an opportunity to identify sites with the capacity to deliver new homes, as well as improvements to the area with enhanced green spaces and connections.

What will the SPD’s status be once it’s adopted?

Once complete, the SPD will be a material consideration in the determination of planning applications for sites within the designated masterplan area. This means that in addition to satisfying the requirements of national, regional, and local planning policies, development proposals will also need to demonstrate how the guidance in the Spitalfields and Banglatown SPD has been considered.

It is important to note that a masterplan SPD does not force landowners or developers to submit planning applications or to develop land in a certain way.

The Masterplan Area (which may evolve further over the course of the project):