Planners set to topple towers in Clapham Junction

by Ruth Bloomfield
from Evening Standard 18 May 2009

A £4 billion scheme for London's busiest railway station should be abandoned, planners have said.
 
Council officials have backed objectors who say the Heart of Battersea scheme at Clapham Junction does not fit into the area.


Proposals include two 42-storey, 142-metre residential towers, which would have 556 homes, a shopping centre, two station entrances and health centre. Wandsworth councillors will vote on the scheme on Wednesday. [Agenda papers available by clicking here ]

The towers are by architects ColladoCollins, but more than 600 experts, residents and groups have objected to the plans. Mike Roden, of the Battersea Society, said today: “There is a lot wrong with this application — they have not included any affordable housing, they have not taken into account the fact that this area is a hub for buses and there is a log jam already most mornings.”

Martin Linton, MP for Battersea, describes the towers as “out of context” with Clapham while CABE, the Government's architecture advisors, said they were “ungainly”.

Wandsworth council described the plans as some of the most contentious it has ever seen.

Planners object to the scheme because of the lack of affordable housing and the transport issues raised by the Battersea Society.

Developer Metro Shopping Fund — a joint venture between Delancey and Land Securities — claims its proposals are the only realistic option for the area.

BATTERSEA SOCIETY NOTE : The Town Hall meeting begins at 7.30 on Wednesday 20th May. Observers are welcome in the public gallery and the Battersea Society, Clapham Junction Action Group, and many others opposed to this development are hoping for a large presence in the gallery to allow councillors to come to their decision in the full knowledge of the wide-ranging opposition to the plans. You are advised to get to the Town Hall around 7pm or earlier. There is a map of the area round Wandsworth Town Hall below, and you can find details of how to get there by clicking here

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