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News Internationals suffers setbacks in its proposal to redevelop Wapping headquarters

News Internationals proposal to redevelop its Wapping headquarters has suffered a double setback, with the Tower Hamlets planning committee declining to approve the plans and the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, criticising some parts on environmental grounds.

Councillors on the Tower Hamlets planning committee voted seven to one last week not to approve the redevelopment, which would convert the headquarters of the Sun, News of the World, the Times and Sunday Times and the London Paper into a "campus-type" complex for about 4,000 staff of their parent company, News Corporation, complete with roof-terrace gardens, an 18m high atrium and shops open to the public.

A Tower Hamlets spokeswoman said: "Members voted not to agree the officer's recommendation to grant planning permission. They indicated they were minded to refuse the application on such grounds as the impact on residents, impact on the grade-two listed building and the development's energy efficiency and the matter was deferred to enable officers to bring back a report."