This meeting of Newham Council's Local Development Committee will discuss two planning applications. One is an application to build a ghusl¹ facility on the site of the Hudson Bay pub in Forest Gate. The other is an application for the renovation and change of use of a locally listed warehouse at 31-35 Stock Street in Plaistow.

31-35 Stock Street

The report pack for the meeting contains a proposal for the renovation and change of use of a five-storey warehouse building, that has been vacant since 2017, to a multi-functional community facility including a cafe, offices and workspaces, alongside some ancillary educational use.

The report notes that the warehouse is locally listed, meaning that it is a building designated by a local planning authority which does not meet the criteria for inclusion on the national list, but makes a positive contribution to the local scene or is valued for local historical associations. The report pack states that the building is Often... a building with landmark qualities due to its scale, position in the street, or distinctive rooflines.

The report pack also states that The applicant, Create London, intends that at least half of the users of the space will be Newham residents, and that at least half of the workspace will be let at reduced rents for the benefit of local artists and craftspeople. They refer to research which they say demonstrates a local need for arts and cultural facilities, including a report prepared for them by Publica in 2022, and field research which they say they carried out themselves in 2024. The report pack also includes letters of support from Curwen Primary School and Newham Council's Regeneration Team. The application proposes the creation of a large yard to the side of the warehouse, containing bicycle parking and two trees. It also proposes public realm improvements, including the removal of a redundant dropped kerb and an extension to the existing guard railing.

The report states that:

The proposal to introduce community uses and workspace in an out-of-centre location is considered acceptable in this site specific circumstances; by proposing an innovative and viable use of a locally listed building, ensuring its preservation and enhancement, and taking into account the sites incompatibility in providing the desired residential uses on site.

The report recommends that planning permission be granted subject to a Section 106 legal agreement with conditions.

Hudson Bay, 1-5 Upton Lane

This report concerns an application for planning permission to erect a ghusl facility to the rear of the Hudson Bay pub on Upton Lane in Forest Gate. The report pack says that the facility is intended to be used between one and three times per month. The facility would share a site with a multi-functional community space, for which planning permission was granted at the Committee's September meeting.

The report pack notes that:

It is acknowledged that the application site is the subject of a planning enforcement investigation, referenced 23/00501/ENFC. It was found that the applicant had already commenced works to erect the outbuilding the subject of this application. The applicant has been advised to and has halted the works until the resolution of this planning application.

The report also notes that the site is adjacent to a grade II listed building, Emmanuel Church, and is in the Forest Gate Town Centre Conservation Area. The report states that the proposed building would be partially obscured by the proposed boundary treatment along the southern boundary of the church and that its set back within the application site would ensure the mass and bulk is limited in sight from the curtilage of the listed building. The report concludes that the proposal would not have any detrimental impacts to the listed building or its setting.

The report pack says that Several representations have been received by neighbouring occupiers most of which objected to the proposal. It lists a number of their concerns and responds to some of them. The report recommends that planning permission be granted subject to a number of conditions.