Plans for Europe’s tallest skyscraper, Irvine Sellar’s London Bridge Tower, have been called-in by secretary of state John Prescott.
A letter sent to Sellar Property Group by the Government Office for London (GOL) said that the size and location of the 66-storey, 1,016ft-tall skyscraper, dubbed the “shard of glass” by its architect Renzo Piano, were enough to warrant a public inquiry.
The call-in follows hot on the heels of news that Gerald Ronson’s Heron Tower, at 110 Bishopsgate EC3, has been given the go-ahead following a lengthy and expensive public inquiry.
London Bridge Tower narrowly won planning consent from Southwark council in March.
Since then it has received support from the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), mayor for London Ken Livingstone and several business lobby groups.
But the tower has also been fiercely opposed by English Heritage.
Simon Thurley, chief executive of EH, said that he was “delighted” by the call-in.
Thurley said: “The London Bridge Tower would have put a spike through the heart of historic London, destroying views of two of the nation’s most loved buildings – the Tower of London and St Paul’s Cathedral.
“If built it would be Europe’s tallest building and London’s greatest folly.”
The call-in letter from the GOL raised concerns about “the appropriateness, and impact on both the local and wider area, of a very tall building in this location”, and “the impact of the proposals on strategic views of St Pauls Cathedral and the Tower of London World Heritage Site”.
It added that “the ability of the transport system to deal with the increase in demand and intensity of use created by this proposal, taking account of both the current and planned capacity of the public transport system” would also be examined in a public inquiry.
EGi News 24/07/02
