By Charlotte Lillywhite, Local Democracy Reporter
Plans to build a gigantic 35-storey tower next to London’s only licensed heliport are moving forward, as an application has now been submitted for the development.
Developer Heliport London Ltd has lodged a planning application for the scheme with Wandsworth council.
The proposed tower on Lombard Road, by the River Thames, would contain 143 flats, if it was approved by the council. It would also have workspace, a gym for residents and a play area on its lower floors.
It would be the tallest building in Battersea, replacing an empty five-story office building, known as Heliport House, and two industrial garages.
The council approved plans to add a 15-storey tower on top of Heliport House in 2014, with no affordable homes, but that was never built. The latest scheme proposes a much bigger tower containing 51 affordable homes, out of 143 homes overall.
Planning documents said the scheme would ‘represent a significant improvement from the low-quality buildings that currently occupy the site’. The developer pledged to improve the area around the proposed tower by making the Thames Path behind London Heliport more accessible.
The plans have received 11 objections so far on the council’s website, with residents raising particular concerns about the tower’s proposed height and the impact on traffic levels.
One objector wrote: “The proposed tower is excessively high. It would significantly negatively affect the skyline of the area, and be out of place compared to other buildings, both in the immediate area and along the bank of the river.
“There is already significant pressure on local services, e.g. overcrowding of trains and buses, and this needs to mitigated before a significant new population is added. There is a need for affordable housing. Most of the new residential will be for private market, and there is no indication they will be affordable.
“Flats in similar new developments are currently unsold and/or unoccupied. This a site that is close to the river, and significantly more consideration should be given to creating space for nature and wildlife.”
Another resident commented: “This proposal represents another instance of overdevelopment, prioritising high-density housing without adequate consideration for the supporting infrastructure, public spaces, or long-term community wellbeing.
“The cumulative effect of such mass residential developments risks undermining the liveability and sustainability of the neighbourhood which is already losing its identity and sense of community.”
Planning documents argued the development would ‘deliver numerous and weighty public benefits which would be unfeasible in a smaller scheme’.
They added: “The site is allocated for residential development and would deliver an iconic design through the building’s richly articulated form, its slenderness and elegance, which would enhance the local townscape, cause no heritage harm and aid with wayfinding and legibility from a wide range of views.”
The council will decide on the plans in due course.
Pictured top: CGI of the proposed tower, known as Nest Battersea (Picture: Concrete/HTA Design/Heliport London Ltd)
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