The controversial scheme to build a 29-storey tower by Battersea Bridge crumbled last night (24th April) after a unanimous vote at Wandsworth Council vetoed the planning application.
Rockwell Property has spent the past year bidding to knock down the existing Glassmill building to replace it with a glass and steel tower, plus a 10-storey ‘shoulder building’ at the rear of the property. But the project was dismissed by councillors during an intense debate lasting nearly two hours.
The Planning Applications Committee (PAC) heard damning submissions from councillors that criticised multiple aspects of Rockwell’s application. Council officers also weighed in with challenges. Amongst the key issues raised were:
- the clear damage heritage assets would suffer from the height and massing of the tower
- the lack of detail as regards the construction phase
- the financial viability for Rockwell to ultimately deliver 50% affordable housing as promised in the plan
- Rockwell’s strategy of paying a public consultation agency to solicit letters of support
In summing up the meeting before the vote was carried, Chairman Cllr Tony Belton stated bluntly: ‘I see no-one supporting this application, from whichever position.’
Holy Smoke: How news of the council’s vote was announced on Rob McGibbon’s Change petition blog
The planning scheme, entitled ‘One Battersea Bridge’ (OBB) by architects Farrells, has faced widespread opposition since it was formally lodged a year ago. A petition called S.O.B.B – Stop One Battersea Bridge was launched by Rob McGibbon – Editor of The Citizen – which attracted more than 5,000 signatures and the support of leading personalities, including Sir Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Bryan Adams, Felicity Kendal, Anthea Turner, and Lord Browne of Madingley.
As of today, the council’s planning portal has received 2,005 objections to OBB and 1,892 letters of support -which were almost entirely submitted by Rockwell via an agency.
In front of a packed pubic gallery, members of the committee took turns to criticise Rockwell’s scheme. Caroline de la Soujeole, St Mary’s ward, said that “there has been unprecedented opposition to this scheme” and added that – if it were approved – it would “make a mockery of council policy” as regards tall buildings, and that it was “quite simply the wrong building for the wrong site”.
A CGI image of the doomed tower that has been toppled by the council and people power ©Glassmill
She went on to say: “It should be noted that the housing proposed here for social rent is stated to be “subject to viability”. There is no guarantee that the level of afforable housing will actually be provided.”
Referring to the letters of support on the portal, Cllr Guy Humphries, Southfields ward, expressed “concern” over how the letters were gathered, saying “there is a feeling that the other side hasn’t played fair and square with their approach”.
Councillor Ravi Govindia, for East Putney, described the application as “grossly unacceptable” because the height was driven by the need to make up for the high costs of purchasing the site. Cllr Govindia said:
“The applicant, having paid an enormous sum of money for the site, is then recovering that investment by jacking up the building. I think it’s right that the applicant should get the message that it is not for us and the local community to bear the negative side of their bad economic decisions. I am totally against it.”
It is understood that Rockwell stood to pay £45m for the site – believed to be ultimately owned by the Domino’s Pizza corporation – if they were granted planning permission. It is also understood that Rockwell took on a £5m high interest loan from Cerberus Capital Management, an American investment group with £50bn worth of assets, to finance the OBB bid. It also paid £1.5m for the Glassmill site in order to proceed with the planning application. It now has six months to appeal the council’s decision.
Cllr Fiona Ayres, also for East Putney, said the building “is so enormous it is almost a joke”. Laughter was heard from the public gallery when an officer played a ‘before and after’ slide show on a large projector in the council chamber revealing what the Battersea area would look like if the tower was built.
The Citizen requested Rockwell’s media statement earlier today, but has had no reply. This is despite the statement being made readily available to other media organisations.
Rob McGibbon attended last night’s committee meeting and welcomed the committee’s decision. In a statement, he said: ‘This planning application had more flaws than floors and I am delighted that the council saw through it. This was a vote for common sense and for people power.
‘I congratulate the committee on their unanimous decision and huge credit must go to the officers at Wandsworth Council who worked so hard to prepare a highly detailed 132-page report that forensically tore this scheme apart.
‘The committee meeting was full of damning statements from councillors about Rockwell’s plan and they laid bare all the problems that it would have caused. I hope that the company now scraps the scheme altogether and that they do not appeal. This was the wrong scheme, in the wrong area, and they took on the wrong community.
’This was the Donald Trump of planning applications – it made no sense on any level! It was woefully ill-informed, insensitive, and driven by avarice. Just because an architect’s computer software says that a tower can be built on a piece of land, it does not make it sensible, viable or morally right.
‘My sincere thanks goes to everyone who supported my campaign. I would like to pay a special thanks to the celebrities who allowed me to make their support known publicly in the earliest days of the campaign. This generated national newspaper coverage that went viral and gave the campaign unstoppable momentum. It is quite something to be able to say that Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton were part of my backing group!’
The Friends of Battersea Riverside campaigning group, which has also fought hard to oppose the tower, welcomed the decision, stating: “We’re relieved and delighted that Wandsworth’s Planning Committee has refused Rockwell’s application. A huge thank you to local councillors and everyone who campaigned against this tower, which clearly broke local planning rules.
“Over three attempts, Rockwell’s plans became increasingly desperate. While social housing is urgently needed, their designs were never economically credible. We believe their real aim was simply to secure planning permission to sell the site on for profit.
“We strongly support a realistic redevelopment – around ten storeys, matching nearby buildings – that genuinely includes affordable housing and community facilities. We now hope a trustworthy developer will genuinely engage with us and other residents to deliver a plan that benefits the whole community.”
Nocturne: Looking across to Glassmill from Cheslea. Imagine the light pollution from a 29-storey tower
The Daily Telegraph reports on the planning committee’s decision