On 31st July, Tower Hamlets Council Strategic Development Committee unanimously rejected the Truman Brewery planning applications. 

Truman Estates are now appealing the applications to the Planning Inspectorate. Save Brick Lane has launched a legal challenge against the appeal.  

The Save Brick Lane campaign is calling on residents, community groups, and supporters across London to stand together in defence of Brick Lane, as the fight against the Truman Brewery development enters a decisive new stage.

On 31st July 2025, Tower Hamlets Council’s Strategic Development Committee unanimously rejected all four of Truman Estates’ planning applications following an unprecedented show of community opposition. Residents, activists, and local businesses filled the Town Hall chamber and demonstrated outside in defence of Brick Lane’s history, culture, and economy.

Councillors from Aspire, Labour, and Independent groups spoke forcefully against the proposals, criticising the developer’s profit-driven approach and defending the interests of local people. The applications were refused on multiple grounds, including failure to meet urgent housing needs and the risk of accelerating gentrification and displacement.

Grounds for refusal are published here: Tower Hamlets SDC Decision

Watch the full committee webcast: Tower Hamlets SDC Webcast

Despite this clear rejection, Truman Estates has appealed to the Planning Inspectorate. In response, the Save Brick Lane campaign has launched a legal challenge and will participate as a Rule 6 Party at the forthcoming Public Inquiry, beginning 14th October 2025. With legal representation secured—including a solicitor, barrister, and a KC appointed by the Council—the community is prepared to hold Truman Estates to account and cross-examine their witnesses directly.

What's at stake

The proposed development offers just six social housing units, despite the site’s capacity to deliver hundreds. Instead, the plan prioritises office space and commercial units, threatening the survival of independent shops and displacing long-standing communities.

In contrast, the community has put forward a Masterplan for Brick Lane—developed with residents and supported by the Mayor of Tower Hamlets—that prioritises genuinely affordable housing, community facilities, and spaces for small businesses. This vision reflects the needs of Spitalfields and Banglatown, one of the most densely populated wards in the borough.

Community voices

Deba Malique, resident of Chicksand Estate and Vice-Chair of Vallance, Montague & Regal and Moss Close TRA:

“I feel compelled to speak out against the Truman Brewery development plans that threaten the heart of our community. I was born in Tower Hamlets and grew up on these streets. Today, I walk through Brick Lane with my child, sharing the rich cultural legacy my father brought with him when he migrated here in 1961. The proposed developments do not support the needs or vision of the local community. We deserve development for the community, not against it.”

Jonathan Moberly, local resident and Save Brick Lane campaigner:

“Brick Lane is not for sale. The amount of social and affordable housing proposed in the current Truman Brewery plans is derisory. It does nothing to meet the needs of this community. We demand a plan that prioritises homes, not hollowed-out office spaces that don’t serve local people.

Next steps

14th October 2025 - Planning Inspectorate Public Inquiry begins. Save Brick Lane will be a Rule 6 Party, legally represented and fully engaged in the Inquiry. 

The campaign calls on all who care about Brick Lane’s future—residents, supporters, and allies across London—to continue standing together in defence of a community-led vision for development.

There is a better scheme 

The Truman Estates application – a development at home in the City of London with its heavy emphasis on office and commercial space in bulky office blocks, but entirely alien to the history, culture and small scale economy of Brick Lane.

The SBL alternative scheme - delivers on the LBTH Local Plan and focuses on social housing, community provision and affordable workspace.

The choice between housing and offices will determine the future of Brick Lane.