Michael Polak appears at China embassy inquiry for resident’s group opposed to application

On 11 February 2025, Michael Polak appeared pro bono for the Royal Mint Estate Tenants and Residents Association at the Planning Inquiry, which is taking place following the ‘calling in’ of the planning application by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Angela Rayner MP.

The Chinese regime has applied to change the use of the Royal Mint building, which is diagonally across from the Tower of London, into a mega-Embassy. The calling in means that the Government will now have the final word on whether to grant planning permission, following recommendations made to it by the Planning Inspectorate following the Inquiry.

Michael’s submissions for the Association were that they had concerns about whether the amenity of their homes, their safety, and their security had been properly assessed by the Metropolitan Police and the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, and that they believe that their interests are being sacrificed for political expediency.

Further, Michael submitted that the previous evidence given by the Applicant’s witnesses that the protests at the site would not cause the closure to the important arterial roads around the site had now been proven wrong, given that a protest at the site on Saturday 8 February 2025 caused closures of all surrounding roads including East Smithfield and Tower Bridge Road.

Questions were also raised about the operational independence of the Met Police on behalf of the Association, given that their change of position, in relation to objecting to the application, was not communicated by them to the Planning Inspector, but by the Foreign Secretary and Home Secretary.

Further, it was submitted that Tower Hamlets, the local authority, should not have been so easily swayed into changing their position by the Met’s reliance on the Applicant’s 2022 Pedestrian study, which wrongly stated that protests at the site would not close the arterial roads around the site.

The inquiry has been covered widely in the media, including in ITV,  The Financial Times, The Times and The Evening Standard.

Michaels submissions to the Inquiry can be seen here.

Michael can be instructed for Inquiries, human rights, international law, or criminal matters by contacting his clerks by phone (+44 (0)20 7936 3637) and email (m.polak@churchcourtchambers.co.uk).