Tower Hamlets council refuses school hours change over safety and congestion fears
A bid to alter the school hours at Canary Wharf College Glenworth has been unanimously refused by Tower Hamlets Council's Development Committee, citing concerns over community safety, congestion, and cumulative transport impacts.
The application sought to change the school's teaching hours from a maximum start time of 8:30 am and a minimum finish time of 3:55 pm to a maximum start time of 8:15 am and a maximum finish time of 3:00 pm. The original planning permission for the school, granted in 2015, included conditions to stagger its hours with the adjacent St Luke's Primary School to mitigate highway congestion and protect residential amenity.
Concerns over cumulative impacts and equality
Objectors, including local councillors and residents, argued that the proposed earlier finish time of 3:00 pm would significantly reduce the stagger with nearby schools, particularly George Green's Secondary School, creating a 10-minute overlap. This, they contended, would lead to increased congestion, unsafe parking, noise, and pollution.
Councillor Amina Ali highlighted a potential failure to comply with the Public Sector Equality Duty, stating that no specific assessment had been done for protected characteristics.
Councillor Hossain further elaborated that No equity impact assessment has been provided. No assessment of impact on disabled users, S&D people, elderly residents, and those with post-chairs, buggies, and no assessment on annual increase in operating days. The proposal, therefore, in my view, fails to demonstrate it will not have a disproportionate adverse impact on persons with protected characteristics.
Councillor Martin Parker and others expressed concerns about the human factor
and the potential for increased antisocial behaviour due to the close proximity of school finishing times. However, the Council's Antisocial Behaviour & Community Safety team stated that based on the reports received by the Council over the last 12 months, there is little evidence of significant or persistent antisocial behaviour with pupils from Canary Wharf College and St Luke's or George Green.
They also noted that the volume of complaints received is low and does not indicate a pattern of school-related antisocial behaviour that would raise significant concerns.
Councillor Sadiqur Rahman reiterated concerns about harm to residents' amenity and increased congestion, echoing reasons for a previous refusal of a similar application. He also noted that the Trust's stated reasons for the change, such as staff benefits and reduced childcare costs, were not planning matters and could not outweigh the identified planning harm.
Applicant's arguments and official assessments
The applicant's agent argued that the proposed changes would increase the stagger between Canary Wharf College Glenworth and St Luke's Primary School. They stated that Extensive transport surveys and assessments, reviewed by council highways officers and an independent consultant, indicated that the proposed changes would not lead to unacceptable transport, safety, or amenity impacts.
Statutory consultees, including Transport for London and the Metropolitan Police, had raised no objections.
The council's highways team and their appointed consultant, Citisense, both concluded that the proposed change would not result in an unacceptable increase in school-related parking or congestion on the surrounding highway network.
They also noted that the proposed amendment to the schools teaching hours would increase the separation between Canary Wharf Primary and St Luke's Primary School from 30 to 45 minutes in the morning and from 25 to 30 minutes in the afternoon.
The committee's concerns, however, focused on the cumulative impacts and the potential for increased antisocial behaviour, which were not fully addressed by the applicant's assessments according to objectors and some councillors.
Previous Refusal and Current Application
The previous application (PA/26/00164) was refused on April 2, 2026, for being a non-material amendment
that was considered to be a material change.
The reasons for refusal were: Insufficient evidence has been provided to demonstrate that the proposed amendment to condition 19 would not result in harm to residential amenities of the neighbouring occupiers, increased congestion and highways safety concerns arising from the cumulative effects alongside nearby schools operating times.
The current application is a Section 73 application, which allows for material amendments. The applicant's agent stated that this application directly addresses those concerns and provides that additional evidence required.
The proposed school hours remain the same as the previous application, but the applicant has submitted updated transport surveys and assessments.
Committee's decision
Despite the officer's recommendation to grant planning permission, the Development Committee voted unanimously to refuse the application. The reasons for refusal centred on concerns regarding antisocial behaviour and community safety linked to the close proximity of school finishing times, cumulative transport impacts and insufficient consideration of the interaction with other schools in the wider area, and a perceived lack of compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty.
The committee resolved to delegate the task of issuing the refusal decision to the Director of Planning and Building Control.
Staggered Hours Explained
Currently, Canary Wharf College Glenworth starts no later than 8:30 am and finishes no earlier than 3:55 pm. St Luke's Primary School starts at 9:00 am and finishes at 3:30 pm. This creates a 30-minute stagger in the morning and a 25-minute stagger in the afternoon. The proposed change would have CWC Glenworth start no later than 8:15 am and finish no later than 3:00 pm. This would increase the morning stagger to 45 minutes (an increase of 15 minutes) and the afternoon stagger to 30 minutes (an increase of 5 minutes).
Objectors also raised concerns that the transport assessments were flawed, particularly regarding survey methodology and bus capacity claims.
Councillor Parker stated, In March, this committee said we need to model not only St. Luke's but also George Green. That still hasn't been done.
Councillor Rahman reiterated concerns about harm to residents' amenity and increased congestion, echoing reasons for a previous refusal of a similar application.
Specifically, concerns were raised that the proposed earlier finish time of 3:00 pm would create a 10-minute overlap
with George Green's Secondary School, leading to increased congestion, unsafe parking, noise, and pollution.
Applicant's Stated Benefits
The applicant's agent stated that the proposed changes would increase the stagger between CWC Glenworth and St's Luke's Primary School.
Objectors also noted that The Trust has said the change would help staff and reduce childcare costs for families.
However, Councillor Rahman stated, We understand those concerns. However, as the legal advisor confirmed, these are not planning matters and cannot outweigh the planning harm already identified.
The applicant's agent also mentioned that the change would Allow the Trust and school to move all support staff onto the 'Green Book' terms and conditions, correcting misalignment with colleagues across the borough and London.
Public reports pack 08th-Oct-2026 18.30 Development Committee