Controversial plans to build a 29-storey tower next to Battersea Bridge which were fought by a host of celebrities, including Mick Jagger, and rejected by the council could get a reprieve after developers lodged an appeal.
In 2024, architecture firm Farrells and luxury property developer Rockwell applied for permission to demolish the six-storey Glassmill office block on Battersea Bridge Road next to the River Thames and build tower in its place.
The applicant of the scheme, Promontoria Battersea, is a subsidiary of US investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, run by billionaire Donald Trump ally Stephen Feinberg.
The structure’s main tower – which was initially proposed to be 39-storeys, but was later dropped to 29 – would include 56 private flats and a 10-storey ‘shoulder tower’ containing 54 social homes, a workspace for small businesses, a community hub and a restaurant.
Council officers said the site was located in a mid-rise building zone in the Wandsworth Local Plan for 2023 to 2038, where only a maximum of six storeys, or 18 metres above ground, was considered appropriate.
Residents, led by editor of hyper-local newspaper The Chelsea Citizen Rob McGibbon, launched a campaign against the plans, arguing the gargantuan high-rise would ‘tower over’ their homes.
A petition under the banner STOP One Battersea Bridge (SOBB) on Change.org amassed almost 5,000 signatures, including from stars such as Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, iconic guitarist Eric Clapton, actress Felicity Kendall, TV presenter Anthea Turner and comedian Harry Hill.
Kendal, 77, who has lived in Chelsea since 1991, asked Wandsworth council in dismay: ‘Who on earth would think that building such a massive tower by this bridge was a good idea?’
The structure’s main tower would include 56 private flats and a 10-storey ‘shoulder tower’ containing 54 social homes, a workspace for small businesses, a community hub and a restaurant (Pictured: an artists rendition of the plans with the tower seen on the left)
Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger, who has lived in the area on and off throughout his career, is one of a host of celebrities who signed a petition to stop the development
The Good Life actress Felicity Kendal also objected to a Battersea Bridge development
Objections were also raised by a roll-call of groups including Historic England, the Chelsea Society, the Battersea Society and the neighbouring borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Wandsworth Council Leader Simon Hogg and local MP Marsha de Cordova have also spoken out against the scheme.
To their delight, Wandsworth Council voted unanimously to reject Rockwell’s ‘grossly unacceptable’ scheme, ruling that it failed to follow policy or meet community needs, after planning officers submitted a 127-page report recommending its refusal.
The report argued the tower’s ‘excessive height and scale’ would ‘represent an unacceptable and incongruous transformative change within the location that would significant harm the spatial character’.
The planning committee agreed the structure would be too big for the constrained site, ruin the city skyline, and ‘devastate’ neighbours’ lives.
Reacting to the news of the refusal at the time, campaign leader Mr McGibbon said: ‘This was the Donald Trump of planning applications – it made no sense on any level! It was woefully ill-informed, insensitive, and driven by brazen 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.’
But Rockwell has now appealed to the Planning Inspectorate and demanded an inquiry with the aim of getting the the council’s decision overturned, arguing the existing site is in need of regeneration, and emphasising the need to build more homes to meet Labour’s housing targets.
At the time of the refusal, Rockwell’s managing director Nicholas Mee said: ‘Wandsworth Council has made the wrong call, one that shuts the door on urgently needed homes.
‘It’s blocked 110 new properties, half at social rent, far exceeding the borough’s own affordable housing targets. Meanwhile, 11,000 people in Wandsworth are still waiting for a secure place to live. Across London, 80,000 children don’t have a permanent home.’
Wandsworth Council voted unanimously to reject Rockwell’s ‘grossly unacceptable’ scheme, ruling that it failed to follow policy or meet community needs, after planning officers submitted a 127-page report recommending its refusal (Pictured: an artists rendition of the plans)
The report argued the tower’s ‘excessive height and scale’ would ‘represent an unacceptable and incongruous transformative change within the location that would significant harm the spatial character’ (Pictured: an artists rendition of the plans)
The planning committee agreed the structure would be too big for the constrained site, ruin the city skyline, and ‘devastate’ neighbours’ lives (Pictured: an artists rendition of the plans)
However, the council committee had concluded there wasn’t any guarantee the proposed affordable housing would actually be built in the tower because it would be subject to further viability tests if approved which could see them scrapped.
They added the proposed development would only make a ‘modest contribution’ to Wandsworth’s annual need for homes when compared to other completed and planned developments in the area which have provided more.
A letter from Labour councillors Jessica Lee and Jamie Colclough said: ‘Our residents think it’s important to send a loud and clear message to developers.
‘Schemes like this that ignore the local character and put profit ahead of improvements to the local area and people’s wellbeing just aren’t welcome here in Battersea.’
The scheme was also dubbed ‘grossly unacceptable’ by Conservative councillor Ravi Govindia.
Rockwell’s planning application also drew 2,028 objections on the council’s planning portal and 1,892 letters of support.
But objectors raised credibility concerns over the support letters after noticing many followed an identical template and were uploaded in batches.
Rockwell argued their legitimacy, insisting gathering voluntary letters of support through canvassing and advertising was standard industry practice.
Inspector Joanna Gilbert was allocated to the case last month and will make her decision during the planning inquiry which is due to start on March 17 and expected to last eight days.