00:02Brick Lane, heart of East London, home to the city's Bangladeshi community, known for its iconic curry houses, thrift shops
00:11and colourful graffiti, may soon cease to exist as we know it.
00:15That's what Tower Hamlet's council tell us after the government approved controversial plans to build a data centre on the
00:23former Truman Brewery site, despite 7,000 objections from residents and a cry for help from the local council and
00:30the Save Brick Lane campaign.
00:32A data centre will just erode that rich history that we spent centuries building.
00:38The plan includes five office buildings between Brick Lane and Spittle Street, along with a cinema, supermarket, a market and
00:4544 homes, of which only six will be for social rent.
00:49It also includes a data centre on Grey Eagle Street, just to the west of Brick Lane.
00:54My name's Councillor Faisal Ahmed. I'm a councillor, Spirit Foods in Bangalore Town, Brick Lane.
01:00The mayor, myself and this administration, we believe this is the wrong development for this site, for Brick Lane.
01:09Throughout the planning process, I mean, our planning department rejected the proposal.
01:14The mayor, councillors, this administration, we were opposed to this plan.
01:19And then it went to a planning inquiry, where the council, alongside Save Brick Lane, local campaigners, we put forward
01:27our arguments against the proposals.
01:29And then it was pulled by the Secretary of State, who ultimately made the decision to grant the planning permission.
01:37And do you think that's fair?
01:39Definitely not fair. The feeling is that we went through the process, invested huge amounts of time and money from
01:45the council and the local community,
01:46and then for the Secretary of State to pull the decision from the local authority is unfair and just makes
01:54a mockery of local democracy.
01:55According to local campaigners, the facility will suck up enough electricity to power 15,000 homes.
02:02And while financial traders, based just minutes away in the city of London, will gain faster internet connections from the
02:08site,
02:09local residents will reap fewer benefits.
02:12A supermarket, a cinema and only a handful of social housing.
02:16And Matthew Pennycook actually said, and one of the justifications for it is that it will strengthen internet connections to
02:22the city of London.
02:23Now, is that entirely fair that your area is being used to the benefit of a different area?
02:29How does that sort of make you feel?
02:30Definitely. I mean, residents will be, hopefully, angry at that justification.
02:35I understand they can have benefits, but if it's to serve the city of London, they can have the data
02:42centre in the city of London.
02:43You know, we, the residents of this borough and Brooklyn in particular, we don't want it, and it doesn't serve
02:50our needs.
02:51We want development that serves the needs of the local community, not just big developers and profits.
03:01We do have an acute housing crisis in the country, and particularly in Tower Hamlets.
03:07We have more than 31,000 people on the housing waiting list.
03:12And this development offers nothing in that regard.
03:15You know, the offer of six social homes in a development, which is, I think, about a 10-acre site,
03:22is just not enough.
03:24Regardless, Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said she had seen no detailed evidence on whether an alternative housing-led development was
03:31feasible.
03:32The government told us their decision was in line with the recommendation of the independent planning inspector,
03:38claiming the harm to the area's heritage will be minor and that it will help crack down on anti-social
03:43behaviour in and among the derelict buildings,
03:46and highlighting the desperate need for more data centres in the city and the economic benefits that come along with
03:52them.
03:52While Truman Estates, who own the land, say the development will provide 1,600 new jobs,
03:58over 37,000 new visitors to the area each week, and more than £18 million of new local spend per
04:05year.
04:05When this development goes ahead, if it does, prices will rise, rent prices,
04:11and local small independent businesses will no longer be able to afford those rents.
04:15And what we'll have is an area losing its character, and we'll have big multinational corporations coming in and filling
04:25that void,
04:26and, you know, essentially lead to the erasure of the identity of Brick Lane.
04:31There's not a single resident or business that I've spoken to is happy.
04:36So my message to the Secretary of State and to the government is please reconsider, review this decision.
04:42This development and this data centre does nothing for the local community.
04:47We, the council, the mayor, and this administration are firmly opposed to it, and so are the local businesses.
04:54Please listen to us, listen to the residents, and review this decision and reverse it.
05:01I mean, put it this way, once, if there's no longer any local businesses, the curry houses all cease to
05:06exist,
05:07who will want to come down to Brick Lane?
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