NewsBeat
Community wins the battle for Battersea as council rejects developer plans – South London News
Campaigners living along Battersea’s river front have celebrated a council decision to reject a controversial high-rise.
One Battersea Bridge (OBB), a 29-storey building at the corner of Battersea Bridge Road, has been the heart of a bitter dispute between residents and its developer, Rockwell Property, for the best part of 2024.
Yesterday Wandsworth council’s planning committee rejected the plans which included 110 homes, of which half would be for social rent, concluding that the proposal was of “excessive size” and would “disrupt the character of the waterfront”.
Leader of the Council, Simon Hogg, said: “The committee were unanimous about the harms of a 29-storey tower in this location, in breach of Wandsworth’s Local Plan which sets out acceptable heights for the area.”
Journalist and activist Rob McGibbon, 59, who lives close to Battersea Bridge in Chelsea, has been at the heart of the campaign against the scheme.
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.”
The long-running dispute hinged on three main issues. Rockwell, which paid £45million for the site, needed to build enough homes to create a profit, the local authority needs affordable homes to house 13,500 people on its housing waiting list and both parties faced more than 4,000 objections.
The Stop One Battersea Bridge (SOBB) campaign Mr McGibbon set up to unite opposition, garnered more than 5,000 signatures and was supported by celebrities including Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton.
Mr McGibbon, who attended yesterday’s committee meeting, said: “Huge credit must go to the officers at Wandsworth council who prepared a highly detailed 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.
“This was the wrong scheme, in the wrong area, and they took on the wrong community.”
Rockwell’s managing director, Nicholas Mee, hit back at the council which he said had made the “wrong call”.
He said: “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.”
But member of Friends of Battersea Riverside, Caroline Gardiner, 68, of Albion Riverside, said she doubted the developers commitment to affordable housing.
Welcoming the decision, she said: “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.
“The committee’s decision sends a firm message to developers that future schemes must genuinely reflect local needs, priorities, and character, rather than imposing disproportionate developments driven by financial speculation and unsound commercial decisions.”
The community campaign hopes to see a “realistic development” of around 10 stories which includes affordable housing and community facilities built on the site.
Ms Gardiner said: “We now hope a trustworthy developer will genuinely engage with us and other residents to deliver a plan that benefits the whole community.”
Rockwell will take some time to digest the council’s decision and ensure next steps remain in the interests of the community, Mr Mee said.
He said: “This scheme still has the potential to change things for the better. More than 1,800 residents and 100 local businesses backed it. They know what this means: fewer families in temporary accommodation. A stronger local economy. A fairer borough.”
Pictured top: Rob McGibbon stands on BatterseaBridge (Picture: RobMcGibbon/TheChelseaCitizen)