Bevis Marks: Political row over plans for skyscraper near historic City synagogue
A political row has erupted over plans for a skyscraper near a historic City synagogue, which critics fear will leave it swallowed in darkness.
Bevis Marks Synagogue, the oldest synagogue in the UK, says it is at risk of being overshadowed by a proposed 43-storey tower at 31 Bury Street.
A former Lord Mayor has now raised concerns about the Corporation’s “political leader” Chris Hayward’s directorship at lobbying company JBP, which works with developers, while the plans are under consideration.
In a letter to the Corporation seen by the Standard, Sir Michael Bear said it was a “matter of outrage” that Mr Hayward had declared an interest by working for one of the developer’s consultants.
However, Mr Hayward - the de-facto political leader of Corporation - later said he had been mistakenly advised in declaring the interest and that JBP in fact had no current part in the scheme.
“It is a latter of outrage that the Chair of Policy, the “Political Leader” of the City, has recently declared a pecuniary interest in this development as a Director of JBP, a public affairs and lobbying company, employed on this project by the Developer,” said Sir Michael.
"Although the Policy Chair does not sit on the Planning and Transportation Committee, he is highly influential within the Corporation, chairs the Policy and Resources Committee and is a member of the Local Plans Sub-Committee."
A Corporation spokesperson said: “The company stated has not advised on the application, and the elected Member has had no decision-making powers on the application.
“All elected Members are required to adhere to a stringent code of conduct. The law requires all Members’ interests to be registered and Members do not participate in decisions in relation to them.
“In compliance with this requirement, there is no conflict of interest, and the elected Member has adhered to all transparency requirements in strict accordance with our established standards.”
Bevis Marks Rabbi Shalom Morris told the Standard the proposed development would be “wholly inappropriate” and would cause lasting harm to the historic landmark.
“Unless stopped, the proposals would irrevocably harm the Grade-1 listed synagogue and diminish the Jewish community’s ability to continue to use its Cathedral for worship,” he said.
“Despite this the Corporation has been perplexingly reluctant to adopt sensible policies that would prevent this substantial harm from occurring.
“We are therefore deeply concerned to learn that a very senior member of the Corporation advises developers who are active in the City, near the synagogue.”
Welput, the developer behind the scheme, has said: “The Welput team does not have any working relationship with JBP or Chris Hayward for our Bury Street project. Any suggestion to the contrary is categorially false.
“It is disappointing for someone of Sir Michael Bear's standing to make such an egregious mistake and then fail to check facts before issuing a misleading public statement."
Former plans to build a 47-storey skyscraper at 31 Bury Street were previously rejected by the City of London in 2021 because of the harm to Bevis Marks, after more than 1,700 objections.
Plans for another skyscraper nearby were also withdrawn after the Bury Street application was turned down.
