Business
Full Council Meeting – The Citizen takes poll (sic) position
The Chelsea Citizen grabbed a front-row perch on the press bench at last night’s Full Council meeting — here's what unfolded... The session kicked off with an emotional plea over the plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank as four residents demanded the Royal...
‘We’re coming for Chelsea’: Reform Party launches recruitment drive for May election fight
Reform UK stormed into Chelsea last night (18th November) with a rally aimed squarely at recruiting councillors to break the Conservatives’ decades-long grip on the Royal Borough. Around 120 locals packed St Luke's Hall where party activists vowed to deliver a...
Creature Comforts Eases Into Chelsea
Creature Comforts, the colourful veterinary clinics that re-define the world of animal healthcare, is marking its arrival in Chelsea with a special Citizen reader offer. Noted for its ultra-modern lilac and purple branding - the most "soothing" colours for pets - the...
RBKC Search for Advisory Panel Talent
RBKC council is searching for a team of locals to come forward to join a new panel to "hold them to account" in light of the Grenfell tower disaster. The hunt is on for 10-15 people who can take up places on the resident-led Independent Advisory Panel (IAP), which has...
£50 for 15,000 low income residents – RBKC signs off budget with £750,000 cash handout
The leaders of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council have waved through its budget for 2025-2026. Following a full council meeting on 5th March, the budget was signed off. Council tax will go up by four per cent - one of the lowest increases in London....
Lord Cashman speaks up in support of the Chelsea houseboat owners
Lord Cashman made a spirited defence of the Chelsea houseboat owners in a speech in the House of Lords on the evening of 4th February. Baron Cashman of Limehouse, for it is he, spoke up during a debate about the Renters' Rights Bill. He revealed that his...
MP BEN COLEMAN QUITS….AS COUNCILLOR
The Labour MP for Chelsea and Fulham has resigned as a councillor of Lillie ward in Hammersmith and Fulham after ten years of service to concentrate on his MP work. Mr Coleman talks to The Citizen about his landmarks achievements at H&F Council...
Government lobbied to press for extradition of Rashid Ali from Pakistan
The Citizen is lobbying the Home Office to fight for the extradition of Rashid Ali, the driver who ran over and killed Jack Ryan on Battersea Bridge in 2021. Ali was sentenced at the Old Bailey last September to five years in prison for causing death by dangerous...
Other News
Chantal Coady Interview: “I am sad the Rococo shop has closed. It was part of my heart and soul”
The Closed sign on iconic shop front on the King’s Road has sadly gone up for the last time. Rococo Chocolates has finally melted away and gone dark. Rococo has been a much-loved feature of the Chelsea scene for the past 43 years, attracting royalty and A-listers thought its doors, as well as legions of loyal locals. The end for a business that...
Public Inquiry Day 7: Curtain falls on the public inquiry into the Battle of Battersea Bridge
Seven days. One towering row. The planning inquiry that swung from dry technical detail to full-blown courtroom theatre finally reached its climax yesterday. At precisely 1pm, Planning Inspector Joanna Gilbert — cool, yet affable and quick to smile, bespectacled and inscrutable — took her seat on the raised dais, scribbled a few final notes and...
Public Inquiry Day 6: Flood defences drama makes sudden ingress into council chamber
The final full day of the explosive Battersea Tower public inquiry witnessed a dramatic late intervention yesterday from the Government’s Environment Agency — raising fresh fears the controversial high-rise could put flood defences at risk. During Day Six of the inquiry, an urgent email landed in Planning Inspector Joanna Gilbert’s inbox from...
Exclusive: Bianca Jagger gambles on helping residents to stop Earl’s Court casino expansion
Activist Bianca Jagger has stepped in to support anxious residents who are trying to fight off the opening of a new slot machine casino in Earl's Court, The Citizen can reveal. Ms Jagger, a resident in the Royal Borough, has weighed in with an excoriating FOUR PAGE objection letter that was sent to RBKC council late on Tuesday. In it, she claims...
Public Inquiry Day 5: Temperatures rise as Rockwell’s KC clashes with council officer
The long-running battle over the controversial Battersea Bridge tower roared back into life this week — with campaigners insisting they are quietly confident of seeing off the “monster” scheme. As the high-stakes inquiry entered its second week, opponents said the tide appeared to be turning against developers Rockwell. Veteran campaigner Dr...
Public Inquiry Day 4: “This is the Donald Trump of planning applications…cold-hearted and vain, driven by ignorance, arrogance, and avarice”. Rockwell slammed in stinging statement
Veteran Fleet Street journalist and campaigner Rob McGibbon yesterday launched a blistering broadside against the controversial Battersea Bridge tower — warning it will “blight homes” and “wreck lives”. McGibbon, who is the editor of The Chelsea Citizen, delivered a strongly worded statement as an 'Interested Party' on Day Four of the public...
Public Inquiry Day 3: Fury as Battersea Society criticises Rockwell for “deceitful PR campaign”
Emotions exploded at the Battersea Bridge tower inquiry as a leading residents’ group tore into developers Rockwell — branding their tactics a “deceitful PR campaign.” In a blistering attack, The Battersea Society’s Dr Michael Jubb accused the firm behind the 29-storey scheme of misleading the public during the critical months in the lead up to...
Public Inquiry Day 2: Heated clashes over light, height and the sky high costs for a seat at the table
Residents living close to a proposed 29-storey tower at Battersea Bridge yesterday warned that the development would deprive their homes of vital daylight. Occupiers of apartments in Albion Riverside and Thames Walk said that the new building would cast significant shadow, as well as wipe out precious views of the river. On Day Two of the public...
Public Inquiry Day 1: After one battle after another, the last battle over the Battersea Bridge tower begins
The long-awaited public inquiry into Rockwell’s hugely controversial 29-storey tower finally got underway at Wandsworth Town Hall today. Lawyers, planners, campaigners and residents lined up for the opening salvos in what promises to be an eight-day planning war over a scheme many fear will permanently scar one of south west London’s most...
Sir Mick Jagger: “This tower is wrong on EVERY level”
Rolling Stones legend Sir Mick Jagger and actress Felicity Kendal have come out fighting against Rockwell Property's "toxic tower" for Battersea. On the eve of the public inquiry, the two stars who have lived in Chelsea since the 1960s, voiced their vehement opposition to the tower. The Sunday Times yesterday previewed the comments that were...