Defiant residents in the block of flats immediately next to the proposed One Battersea Bridge development have unveiled colourful protest posters.
Eight impressive tarpaulin wraps have been strapped across the balconies of the five storey building called Thameswalk demanding: STOP THE TOWER.
Mr Rob McGibbon – editor of The Citizen and the campaigner behind a petition rallying residents and organisations against the tower – suggested this posters idea to the residents of Thameswalk last year. Residents stepped up at a cost of £3,000 and their action will be widely seen by thousands of drivers and pedestrians around the Battersea Bridge area.
The banners include a reference to a website for the ‘Friends of Battersea Riverside‘. Since its inception, the group has gathered more than 2,000 letters in opposition to the tower, which it has presented to Wandsworth Council.
In a further development, the planning application from Rockwell Property was to be considered by Wandsworth Council’s Planning Committee on 27th March, but was suddenly postponed. It will now be held in April.
In more serious developments, it has emerged that 245+ letters of SUPPORT for The Tower suddenly appeared on the council’s planning portal in just six days after 6th March. By some coincidence, they all state similar reasons for supporting the project.
A spokesperson for Rockwell Property confirmed last year that they had solicited many hundreds of similar such letters. It seems that the same tactics have been deployed to flood the system with ‘support’ in an effort to sway the committee’s view ahead of any hearing.
A letter of objection to this “support dump” has been submitted to the council’s portal and the planning committee has been implored to dismiss the letters outright if the committee senses that the signatories of the letters may not have been fully informed as to the details of the tower proposal.
So far, there have been 1,593 Objectors and 710 “Supporters”. The S.O.B.B petition currently has 4,747 signatories.
To lodge a comment about the planning proposal, click HERE and add the case number FS-Case-663310381.
An up-date…
Below are the questions The Citizen put to Rockwell regarding the “letters”…
1. Have all 245+ letters been posted by Rockwell? Do you have a specific number tally?
2. How were the letters solicited (by person-to-person canvassers knocking on residents’ homes?)
3. What specific questions were residents asked?
4. What detail about the project were these residents given in order to solicit support? Were they given the full facts of the proposal?
5. Why has Rockwell resorted to proactively seeking more support letters? Are you unhappy with the level of genuine support so far?
6. Is Rockwell deliberately attempting to sway the view of the planning committee by flooding the portal with positive messages?
7. Does Rockwell accept that adding so many letters in this way is tantamount to an abuse of the system?
A reply by email….
Dear Mr McGibbon,
Thank you for your email, and congratulations on your new position as Founder and Editor of The Chelsea Citizen.
As previously explained, we have continued to gather additional letters of support since your last inquiry and have submitted them in the same manner. Residents continue to express their desire and support for more affordable housing in Wandsworth which One Battersea Bridge will make a significant contribution towards.
If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via this email.
Kind regards,
The Rockwell Team