Tag Archives: Nine Elms

The Wandsworth Council’s propaganda against protesters

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Wandsworth Council posted an article claiming that “squatters who were yesterday (Wednesday) evicted from their illegal camp at Battersea Park’s adventure playground have left behind a squalid and disgusting mess”. This is part of their propaganda. More than 4000 signatures were gathered by members of the community who wish to preserve the Battersea Park Adventure Playground, yet their voices are being silenced.

Do not fall for this propaganda. The protesters are members of the public, parents and residents of the area who have spent some of the coldest nights of this winter in a locked site. They fight for their children’s right to enjoy what the Battersea Adventure Playground has offered for them and their generation. Whereas the Council’s intentions are highly arbitrary. They have not offered a valid justification for their actions and they keep ignoring the public’s wishes.

This video was filmed in the very early hours of Wednesday 23 January 2013. It was taken by peaceful protesters occupying the building adjacent to the Battersea Adventure Playground – under Section 6 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977 – and catches the moment when the police potentially illegally enter the occupied building. You can hear a crow bar being used and the smashing up of the window/building.

In our opinion this destruction of public property is not the result of “squatters” but a staged attempt to validate bureaucratic, arbitrary decisions, that have zero consideration for the community’s children.

Sign the petition to save the Battersea Adventure Playground and support the “Wandsworth Against Cuts” organisation.

Also, visit Save Kimber Road and Battersea adventure playgrounds to read about other adventure playgrounds that have been demolished.

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See our Battersea Power Station project pages for more information and videos.
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Battersea Park adventure playground occupied to stop demolition

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The Battersea Adventure Playground has been the jewel of Battersea Park for more than fifty years. It is located at the South West corner, not far from Battersea Power Station.

Adventure playgrounds offer a unique experience for children and teenagers, as they provide much more than just swings. This type of playgrounds are specifically designed to encourage children to take initiative, use their imagination and be more active during playtime. Staff, volunteers and carers are always present to provide assistance, keep the children safe and organize activities.

In October, Wandsworth Council decided to demolish the popular adventure playground based on various spurious claims regarding health, safety and funds. The community strongly objected and founded the Wandsworth Against Cuts organisation as an answer to the Council’s general attitude. The playground has been occupied since the 5th of January by members of the community as well as activists from the Occupy London organisation:

Battersea Park adventure playground occupied to stop demolition

Yesterday, the police succeeded in evicting some of the occupants, but not all of them. The protest against the Council’s decisions has not been silenced yet and you can show your support by signing the petition. This demolition of the adventure playground for “safety” reasons seems to be part of a gentrification ripple effect starting from Battersea Power Station and Nine Elms area.

Wandsworth Council insist cuts are necessary but claims it is spending £200,000 replacing the demolished adventure playground with standard play equipment.

Visit Save Kimber Road and Battersea adventure playgrounds to read about other adventure playgrounds that have been demolished.

Click Battersea Power Station for more blogs.
See our Battersea Power Station project pages for more information and videos.
Or visit PlanA our general blog on urbanism, planning and architecture.

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Vauxhall transformation plan photograph released

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The first image of complete plans for the transformation of Vauxhall in south London has been released.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More than 20 developments will turn brownfield land along the River Thames at Nine Elms into parks, homes, and shopping areas.

Construction work on the £8bn revamp of nearby Battersea Power Station is due to start in the middle of next year.

A spokeswoman said the power station revamp is just one of the developments in the area.

Programme director Helen Fisher, said the scheme would be centred around One Nine Elms, which she described as the tallest residential tower in western Europe.

New stations

A spokeswoman for the scheme said construction of more than 1,000 homes had already started and the St George Wharf residential tower would be completed in the next 12 to 18 months.

She said work on the new US Embassy was due to begin soon and the entire programme of works was expected to be completed in the next five to 10 years.

A public consultation into plans by Transport for London (TfL) to build new underground stations at Nine Elms and Battersea is currently under way.

The Nine Elms Vauxhall Partnership was set up in 2010 to oversee the development.

The partnership includes developers and landowners in the area, the Mayor of London, TfL and the Greater London Authority, and is chaired by the leaders of Wandsworth and Lambeth councils.

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Northern Line extension plans put to public consultation

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Property to rent in Battersea could become even more attractive if Transport for London’s plans to extend the Northern Line are given the green light.

The city’s public transport body has launched the third and final public consultation on the project, which would see the London Underground network extended from Kennington to Battersea.

It is seeking views from local residents before it finalises its application for a Transport and Works Act Order in the spring of next year.

Under the plans, two new Tube stops would be created to benefit even more of London’s citizens. One would be situated at Nine Elms and the other at Battersea Power Station.

Although those living in Battersea have access to overground railway networks taking them into Waterloo and Victoria, there are currently no Tube lines serving the area.

The extension of the Northern Line into Battersea could therefore have a very positive impact on the local lettings market.

According to Transport for London, journey times into the City and the West End from this part of London would be cut to around 15 minutes as a result of the new link.

Managing director of planning Michele Dix said: “We are really keen to hear what local residents and business have to say about our proposed plans for the Northern Line extension before they are finalised.

“This new transport link could help kick-start regeneration of the area by supporting the creation of thousands of new jobs and homes.”

A number of public exhibitions are being held at venues across Wandsworth and Lambeth – the two boroughs to be affected by the plans – in the coming weeks, including one at the Gallery on the Corner on Battersea Park Road on November 29th.

The Northern Line carries around 660,000 passengers every weekday and serves 50 stations between Morden and Edgware, Mill Hill East or High Barnet.

It has two Central London branches – one via Bank and one via Charing Cross.

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Battersea power station: big visions, glum predictions

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With work on redeveloping the famous London landmark due to start next year, what does the future hold for that part of the south bank of the Thames?

It was decided back in June that the decaying Battersea power station site would be sold to a consortium of Malaysian developers following the financial collapse of the previous owners. There had been talk of Chelsea FC relocating there, but that always an unlikely result. Two months earlier, Rafael Vinoly had presented his masterplan vision for this landmark location in the video below. It’s worth a careful watch.

Encouraged? Excited? Impressed? Community campaigners seem simply depressed, especially about those four famous chimneys. In his video Vinoly spoke of the “original stacks,” but it has lately emerged that the plan is to demolish and replace them with replicas.

Critics claim there’s no need to knock them down and express doubts that the copies will ever rise – the suspicion is that the developers would sooner level the whole building, which would increase its potential for profits. They’re unhappy too about the amount of protection provided by English Heritage and sceptical that the proposed riverside walk will be all its cracked up to be.
But this is much more than a heritage row. The power station site is just part of the far wider redevelopment of Nine Elms, a huge enterprise covering 480 acres stretching from Chelsea Bridge to the Albert Embankment, which will also include the new US embassy, luxurious waterfront accommodation, a linear park, Europe’s largest residential towers and an extension of the northern line.

If the whole lot come to fruition the boast is that 25,000 new, permanent jobs will be created along with 16,000 new homes of which an anticipated 3-4,000 will meet the newly slackened definition of “affordable” – a larger percentage than the Earls Court project and some other schemes in the capital would like to get away with, but still not very large. You might be able to find work in the new Nine Elms, but don’t expect to be able to live there. That’s the way London is going.
Full article can be found here.

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Nine Elms Vauxhall development plans open day

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An opportunity to get information and raise concerns over the transformation of the Nine Elms Vauxhall area at the Nine Elms open day : Thursday the 15th and Friday the 16th of November.

 

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Petition to save Battersea Power Station’s Chimneys!

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The new owners of Battersea Power Station – one of which are renowned illegal deforesters, Sime Darby – are determined to take down the 4 iconic chimneys on the pretext that cracks are making the concrete towers unsafe.

Once the chimneys are gone it is not unimaginable that the rest of the grade II building will also be lost as the argument is likely made that the replacement chimneys are too expensive.

Campaigners against the destruction of this iconic, British architecture have created an online petition to be given to English Heritage who have thus far, ignored the plans to ruin a listed building and an important part of British culture.

Help “save Battersea power station from rampant speculators from demolition to build 1500 luxury flats for Multi-millionaires.”

Please support the cause and sign the petition

Click Battersea Power Station for more blogs
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Or visit PlanA our general blog on urbanism, planning and architecture.

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Nine Elms gasholders “consultation”

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National Grid is holding drop in sessions inviting local people to have their say on its plans to demolish four redundant gasholders in the Nine Elms on the South Bank regeneration area.

With plans to create new homes, shops, leisure facilities and public spaces, National Grid could be demolishing some of London’s most iconic sights. Ideas to convert the gasholders into museums on Britain’s history of power and electricity could preserve the interesting structures, while creating new public spaces.

Drop in sessions will be held on Wednesday 10 October and Thursday 11 October between 3pm and 8pm at The Gallery on the Corner, 155 Battersea Park Road, SW8 4BU

If you are interested in getting involved with these consultations and voicing your opinions, find out more on the Wandsworth Council website

Click Battersea Power Station for more blogs
See our Battersea Power Station project pages for more information and videos.
Or visit PlanA our general blog on urbanism, planning and architecture.

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Battersea Power Station: Out of the frying pan into the fire

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The horror story continues…

Nightmare on Nine Elm Street

The abysmal Vinoly plans for Battersea Power Station that we had all hoped were finally dead and buried with the collapse of previous owners REO has come back to haunt all who care about the beautiful building and the quality of life for all those living in its shadow and the surrounding area.

Just when you thought it was safe Architect Viñoly has been hired as “creative brain” behind developer Mike Hussey’s plan for a new stadium for Chelsea football club. AAAHHHHHHGGGGG……

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Your TV tonight: The undead Grey Men of Battersea Power Station

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On ITV’s London Tonight and LBC radio you can watch or hear Ravi Govindia, the leader of Wandsworth Council who, as former cabinet member for “strategic planning and transportation”, is particularly responsible for the failed private-property owner led regeneration of the area,  trying to defend the borough’s pathetic policy towards the obviously flawed and greedy plans for Battersea Power Station.

Only a few days ago George Osborne and Boris Johnson were doing their best to puff the disastrous scheme which is now as all but dead and buried by the creditors calling in their loans.


For the Battersea Power Station Community Group (BPSCG) it is just another “new beginning” as the fourth developer limps off stage to boos and jeers.

Keith Garner is also interviewed calling for the whole site to be put into public ownership for a sensible, viable, gradual development of the historic and beautiful building and its surrounding site. An ideal exhibition for industrial power ( see our previous blogs). Keith cites the difference in the approach of Southwark to the other Gilbert-Scott designed river front power station, the highly successful Tate Modern. Through partnerships and a gradual, planned development it shows what Battersea residents could have had these past 30 years.

WATCH: ITV London Tonight on Battersea Power Station debt

Spectacle’s crew were there today too and will be posting soon the bits of the interviews the broadcaster left out. Including an hilarious episode where the owners try to stop ITV filming by shutting the gates. Perhaps their last act.

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