Policy information sourced from the Tower Hamlets Local Plan
S.EMP1 Creating investment and jobs
1) Development which supports, protects and enhances the role and function of the borough’s designated employment locations (as defined on the Policies Map) and maximises the provision of employment floorspace to contribute towards the borough’s target of creating 125,000 new jobs over the period to 2031 will be supported in line with the principles set out below.
| Designation | Role and function | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Preferred Office Location (POL) | This predominantly consists of offices, and is most suitable for buildings with large floor-plates which can provide significant numbers of jobs. It is unsuitable for housing or any other non-strategic Central Activities Zone (CAZ) use which could undermine its strategic function and prevent the delivery of sufficient land for employment use. | Canary Wharf (as illustrated on the Policies Map) |
| Secondary Preferred Office Location (POL) | These contain, or could provide, significant office floorspace to support the role and function of the Primary POL and the City of London. Greater weight is given to office and other strategic CAZ uses as a first priority. Although residential uses can be accommodated, these should not exceed 25% of the floorspace provided. | These are illustrated on the Policies Map |
| Central Activities Zone (tertiary area) | This designation contains areas of the CAZ outside of the Primary and Secondary POLs. They are relatively peripheral compared to the primary and secondary cores but also provide significant existing employment floorspace and capacity to accommodate future growth. There are opportunities for significant provision of office and other strategic CAZ uses as part of employment-led or mixeduse schemes. Residential uses are supported as part of mixed use schemes although the proportion of residential floorspace should not exceed 50% of the total floorspace. | This is illustrated on the Policies Map |
| Local Employment Locations (LEL) | These are areas of high accessibility that provide or could provide significant capacity for employment accommodation meeting secondary, local or specialist employment needs, and to support the needs of start-ups, small-to-medium enterprises, grow-on space and creative and digital industries. | a. Blackwall – which provides secondary large floorplate offices, smaller units suitable for small-to-medium enterprises and data centres which support the needs of Canary Wharf and the City of London. b. Cambridge Heath – which provides a range of office, industrial and studio workspaces meeting the needs of businesses serving a more local need, start-ups, small-to-medium enterprises and creative industries. c. Tower Gateway East – which provides a variety of units supporting both local need and the needs of businesses within surrounding POLs and the City of London. d. Whitechapel – which provides small office spaces meeting local needs alongside a bio-tech and life sciences sector, creative and knowledge-based industries and growing demand from an eastwards expansion of the City of London. These are illustrated on the Policies Map |
| Strategic Industrial Location (SIL) | This designation plays an important sub-regional industrial, warehousing and waste management role serving not just the borough but other parts of central London. Housing is not suitable in this location due to potential conflict with existing and future industrial uses. | Empson Street (as illustrated on the Policies Map). This should be safeguarded in accordance with London Plan policies. |
| Local Industrial Locations (LIL) | LILs provide important areas of light-manufacturing/ industry and warehousing to meet a more local need and provide local employment opportunities, as well as to support the needs of the global business centres of Canary Wharf and the City of London. | a. Blackwall Trading Estate b. Gillender Street c. Poplar Business Park d. The Highway e. Thomas Road These are illustrated on the Policies Map |
| Tower Hamlets Activity Areas and Major, District and Neighbourhood Centres | The Tower Hamlets Activity Areas, District Centres and larger Neighbourhood Centres also provide opportunities for purposebuilt office buildings with ground-floor retail and leisure uses. The Activity Areas in particular have the potential to accommodate substantial employment growth to support the strategic role of the Primary and Secondary POLs and other parts of the CAZ. These are illustrated on the Policies Map. |
|---|---|
| Other employment sites | These are sites or units outside of the areas described above. Cumulatively, they provide significant floorspace and jobs across a variety of sectors. |
2) Where residential floorspace thresholds set out in Part 1 are exceeded, applicants must robustly demonstrate why it is not viable to deliver the required CAZ strategic uses and that the supply of sufficient employment capacity to meet future need is not being compromised.
3) Proposals will be supported which provide opportunities to maximise and deliver investment and job creation in the borough through:
- supporting and promoting the competitiveness, vibrancy and creativity of the Tower Hamlets economy
- protecting the borough’s global, national, regional and local economic roles in delivering jobs and supporting businesses
- ensuring a range of job opportunities at all levels are provided throughout the borough, particularly within designated employment locations, the Central Activities Zone, Tower Hamlets Activity Areas and Major, District and Neighbourhood Centres, and
- ensuring the borough’s residents have access to education and skills that will enable them to benefit from local employment and enterprise opportunities.
4) Proposals will be supported which provide opportunities to promote the creation of a sustainable, diverse and balanced economy through:
- ensuring availability of a range of workspaces and unit sizes, start-up space, co-working space and ‘grow-on’ space by protecting existing floorspace and encouraging the provision of new floorspace, and
- working with affordable and shared workspace providers to bring forward affordable, flexible and shared workspace.
For more information please see the Local Plan