Johnson approves Battersea plan

Boris Johnson has given his approval to Real Estate Opportunities’ planning application for the Battersea Power Station site. The mayor’s blessing for the £5.5bn development comes hard on the heels of Wandsworth Council’s approval of the scheme in early December.

Rafael Vinoly’s masterplan will create a 10.1m sq ft mixed-use sustainable development with more than 3,400 new homes and 1.7m sq ft of office space alongside 1.5m sq ft of other commercial uses including hotels, cultural, leisure, conference centre, shops and restaurants. The former power station will be at its heart, restored to its former glory.

The development will also include a new tube station on the proposed extension of the Northern Line from Kennington to Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station. This will be the first ever privately funded extension to the tube network in central London. It is envisaged that restoration of the main power station, which will include rebuilding the iconic chimneys, will be completed by 2016.