Latest for Battersea Power Station
Battersea Power Station to be turned into immensely posh hotel, theatre, more posh hotels, etc etc. (currently awaiting planning permission from the council).
Not sure entirely how I feel about this. On the one hand, it is clearly a good thing that *something*, *anything* be done to stop it from just falling apart altogether (or if no one wants to do anything with the shell as stands, then just knock the damn thing down & use the land - yes it's pretty & yes I would like it preserved, but not at the cost of all that wasted space). On the other hand - immensely posh hotels? Arts & exhibition venue - well, we'll see what exactly that means, I suppose. The last time they did that with an ex-power-station it worked out pretty well. I am politely sceptical about the chances of any of the flats in the surrounding area being remotely affordable (although isn't there some bylaw now that if building flats/houses in London one has to make a certain number of them be social-housing-type-affordable?). I don't know; the whole thing sounds hugely exclusive/rich, & I would have preferred something more inclusive on the site (this is, of course, because I am a big socialist hippy).
I think I come down on the side of 'something, anything', though, currently. And I do like the idea of the new pedestrian bridge, though I hope that it will allow bikes as well. But given that this is about the 3rd or 4th project for the site, it's probably not time to start holding one's breath about it.
Not sure entirely how I feel about this. On the one hand, it is clearly a good thing that *something*, *anything* be done to stop it from just falling apart altogether (or if no one wants to do anything with the shell as stands, then just knock the damn thing down & use the land - yes it's pretty & yes I would like it preserved, but not at the cost of all that wasted space). On the other hand - immensely posh hotels? Arts & exhibition venue - well, we'll see what exactly that means, I suppose. The last time they did that with an ex-power-station it worked out pretty well. I am politely sceptical about the chances of any of the flats in the surrounding area being remotely affordable (although isn't there some bylaw now that if building flats/houses in London one has to make a certain number of them be social-housing-type-affordable?). I don't know; the whole thing sounds hugely exclusive/rich, & I would have preferred something more inclusive on the site (this is, of course, because I am a big socialist hippy).
I think I come down on the side of 'something, anything', though, currently. And I do like the idea of the new pedestrian bridge, though I hope that it will allow bikes as well. But given that this is about the 3rd or 4th project for the site, it's probably not time to start holding one's breath about it.