Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton win battle to stop 29-storey block being built by Thames | Planning policy
Celebrities including Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger have scrapped plans to build a 29-storey tower on the banks of the River Thames.
Jagger, along with fellow rock star Eric Clapton, actor Felicity Kendall and comedian Harry Hill, battled developer Rockwell Property for two years over a plan to build a 100-metre tower next to the Battersea Bridge. Had the tower been built on the south bank of the River Thames in south-west London, it would have rivaled the heights of the famous chimneys at Battersea power station.
Jagger, 82, who, like bandmates Brian Jones and Keith Richards, has lived on the north side since the early 1960s, said the tower was “implausible” and “completely wrong on every level.”
Jagger told the Chelsea Citizen in March that he had “lived in this area for a long time and I care what happens to it. If this continues it could lead to taller buildings being built… It could change this wonderful area of the Thames forever.”
Clapton, 81, warned that if the plans were approved it would be a “free-for-all for other developers to build towers along the river”. He added: “These developers don’t care what anyone thinks. They’re just in it for the money.”
Rockwell Property originally proposed to build a 34-story tower with 142 apartments; This tower was later reduced to 110 apartments, including 54 affordable homes, along with underground parking and various commercial spaces. The developer argued that the project met the “urgent need for new, high-quality housing” in London.
Wandsworth council rejected the plans, citing the “excessive height and scale” of the project, adding that it would “represent an unacceptable and incompatible transformative change within the location which would significantly damage the spatial character of the same location”. It was also stated that the tower would distort the skyline and “ruin” the lives of neighbors. The Greater London Authority supported the council’s decision.
Rockwell appealed but was left unsatisfied after a planning inspector backed the objectors and the council ruled this week that the tower would have “adverse effects on the character and appearance of the local area” and would be “overbearing”.
Following an eight-day public hearing, planning inspector Joanna Gilbert said: “The proposal would damage the character of the townscape in several identified views from different directions and from different distances.
“[It] It will be taller and bulkier than other existing buildings, making it quite eye-catching. The proposal would result in a dramatic skyline change to the views in this part of the city. [Thames] set. “Overall, this change will be detrimental.”
The inspector added: “The proposal is exemplary, not outstanding, notable or distinctive, merely high. It will not adorn the London skyline and form part of a strip cluster of tall buildings, but by its height in this location it will appear alien and isolated and will be detrimental to the spatial character.”
In a statement, Rockwell said: “We are obviously disappointed in this decision as we are firm believers in this regeneration project. We wanted to see it delivered and have made a number of changes to the plan based on feedback from the public.”
The developer added: “We have made no compromises on quality by using world-renowned architects Farrells, so it is disappointing that the inspector did not share our view that this would be a fantastic addition to the London skyline.”
