A formal application to develop the former Thames Valley depot in Lea Bridge Road was initially set to be submitted to Waltham Forest Council by the end of the month, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter

An artist’s indicative impression of the children’s home proposal (Credit: London Councils) , inset: Its location on Lea Bridge Road, Credit: ELWP

A planning application for London’s first secure children’s home has been put on hold while the Department for Education (DfE) leads a review of the project with London boroughs.

A formal application to develop the former Thames Valley depot in Lea Bridge Road was initially set to be submitted to Waltham Forest Council by the end of the month.

But a need for “further design development” and a “review” of the project’s delivery approach with the Department for Education (DfE) has meant the timeline has been scrapped.

A spokeswoman from London Councils, who are involved in the project, added: “We are doing this to give this complex project and our future planning application the greatest chance of success.

“We will share the new timelines for the project, including planning application submission once a new date has been established.”

The facility would house 24 vulnerable youngsters amid a national shortage of placements.

London Councils has been tight-lipped about the exact specifications of the centre or why it chose the Lea Bridge site for the secure children’s home from a longlist of 70.

It declined a Freedom of Information request in March, saying that its plans were “in draft”.

The land in question is Metropolitan Open Land (MOL), which is afforded similar protection to the green belt.

Councils are required to ensure MOL sites are protected from ‘inappropriate’ development, except in “very special circumstances”. Developers who want to build on MOL must also prove there was no other suitable site.

The former waterworks has also been eyed for a community-run swimming park. Though the land is not for sale, the East London Waterworks Park (ELWP) charity has put forward its own plans for an open-water pool and cafe.

Chairwoman Abigail Woodman said the delay was “good news”.

She said: “This is good news for the site, for our Metropolitan Open land that should be protected from development.”

The charity has so far raised more than £500,000 to transform the land, which rests on the border of Waltham Forest and Hackney, into a place for the community.

It maintains a swimming park would be a better use of MOL, and more in line with the policy’s intentions to protect the city’s landscape.

The chairwoman previously said: “We are concerned that the proposed development ignores the beautiful Victorian industrial buildings on site. It would be a tragedy if our heritage was allowed to crumble away, especially when we have such fantastic plans to retrofit them and bring them back into community use.”

Waltham Forest Council leader Grace Williams previously said there were concerns over the “feasibility” of ELWP’s plans and the authority was now “fully supportive” of the “need” for a secure children’s home.

She echoed London Councils’ stance, saying: “We are acutely aware of the absence of a secure home for vulnerable children in London.”

However, she had also previously congratulated the charity for crossing the £500,000 milestone and said it showed a “huge appetite” for wild swimming in the borough.

The DfE says the former depot is the only suitable location in Greater London and the land, owned by the Ministry for Housing, would only go on the commercial market if no alternative use for it was found.

London Councils has meanwhile pointed to the “several months” that vulnerable children in the capital are regularly forced to wait to be placed in a home. These homes, the collective of councils said, were often “hundreds of miles” from their support system or where the children grew up.

Stressing the benefits of having a secure home inside the M25, the collective added: “By keeping these children closer to us, here in London, we can provide them with greater support when they are ready to leave secure care and settle back into the community.”

Editor’s Note: (04/09) This article has been amended to make clear that the review is being led by the DfE and London boroughs and not the legal entity London Councils, as previously stated. Additionally, the headline was changed to clarify that the project is not on hold, but its planning application is.

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