{"id":487707,"date":"2026-05-16T12:58:09","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:58:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/487707\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T12:58:09","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T12:58:09","slug":"mick-jagger-and-eric-clapton-win-battle-to-stop-29-storey-block-being-built-by-thames-planning-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/487707\/","title":{"rendered":"Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton win battle to stop 29-storey block being built by Thames | Planning policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Celebrities including Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger<\/a> have defeated plans to build a 29-storey tower on the banks of the River Thames.<\/p>\n

Jagger, along with fellow rockstar Eric Clapton, actor Felicity Kendal<\/a> and comic Harry Hill, fought the developer Rockwell Property for two years over its plan to erect a 100-metre tower next to Battersea Bridge. If the tower had been built on the south bank of the Thames in south-west London, it would have rivalled the heights of the famous chimneys on Battersea power station.<\/p>\n

Jagger, 82, who has lived on the north bank since the early 1960s, as have bandmates Brian Jones and Keith Richards, said the tower made \u201cno sense\u201d and was \u201ctotally wrong on every level\u201d.<\/p>\n

Jagger told the Chelsea Citizen in March that he had \u201clived in this area for a long time and I care about what happens to it. If this goes ahead, it could lead to more tall buildings being built \u2026 changing this wonderful stretch of the Thames riverside forever\u201d.<\/p>\n

Clapton, 81, warned that if the plans were approved it would be a \u201cfree-for-all for other developers to build towers along the river\u201d. He added: \u201cThese developers don\u2019t give a damn what anyone thinks. They are just in it for the money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rockwell Property initially proposed building a 34-storey tower with 142 flats, which was later reduced to 110 flats, including 54 affordable homes, along with underground parking and a mix of commercial spaces. The developer argued the project tackled \u201can urgent need for new, high-quality housing\u201d in London<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Wandsworth council rejected the plans, citing the project\u2019s \u201cexcessive height and scale,\u201d adding that it \u201cwould represent an unacceptable and incongruous transformative change within the location that would significantly harm the spatial character of the same location\u201d. It also said the tower would spoil the skyline and \u201cdevastate\u201d neighbours\u2019 lives. The Greater London Authority backed the council\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

Rockwell appealed, but got no satisfaction, as a planning inspector backed objectors and the council this week by ruling the tower would have an \u201cadverse effects on the character and appearance of the local area\u201d and \u201cbe overbearing\u201d.<\/p>\n

After an eight-day public hearing, planning inspector Joanna Gilbert said: \u201cThe proposal would cause harm to townscape character in several identified views from different directions and differing distances.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It] would be taller and bulkier than other existing buildings, rendering it highly noticeable. The proposal would cause a dramatic change to the skyline in views along this part of the [Thames] embankment. Overall, this change would be detrimental.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inspector added: \u201cThe proposal is not exemplary, extraordinary, remarkable or distinctive, just tall. It would not adorn the London skyline and would not form part of a ribbon cluster of tall buildings, but would appear alien and isolated in its very height in this location, harming spatial character.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rockwell said in a statement: \u201cWe are obviously disappointed with the decision as we firmly believe in this regeneration project. We wanted to see it delivered and made a number of changes to the scheme following feedback from the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

The developer added: \u201cWe did not compromise on quality, using the world-renowned architects, Farrells, so it is disappointing the inspector did not share our view that this would be a great addition to London\u2019s skyline.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Celebrities including Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger have defeated plans to build a 29-storey tower on the banks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":487708,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[268],"tags":[434,18,117,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-487707","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-eire","10":"tag-entertainment","11":"tag-ie","12":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=487707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/487708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=487707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=487707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=487707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}