The leader of Wandsworth Council has criticised the Mayor of London for overturning a local planning decision and permitting an unwanted and unpopular development at Wandsworth Town.
On two separate occasions Wandsworth’s planning committee unanimously rejected applications to develop on the Homebase site at Swandon Way.
Hundreds of local residents had also made clear their opposition to the proposal, which involves building 385 homes within three tower blocks, the tallest of which is to be 18 storeys high.
But despite being refused by the planning committee on the grounds that the original proposals were too tall, too overbearing and in the wrong place, the application was called in by the Mayor of London who has now given it the green light to proceed but also added further height to an already high block.
Wandsworth Council leader, councillor Ravi Govindia, expressed his disbelief at the decision today.
He said: "This sets an extremely dangerous precedent when the Mayor of London can ride roughshod over the views of Wandsworth residents and the decision a local planning council's planning committee – this is bad news for all local councils. Planning committees across London will afraid, very afraid - the message from City Hall is that nothing in planning matters other than how much housing is approved - never mind the height, design or impact on neighbourhoods.
"The application was rightly turned down by Wandsworth - twice - because it was felt that this development was in the wrong location and was too high and too bulky. This was a view shared by hundreds of residents and the local amenity society.
"The Mayor's decision completely undermines our ability to decide what is appropriate for our communities and ignores the views of local people.
The Mayor may argue that the revised scheme offers a higher level of affordable housing than the rejected proposals, but it's still important to strike a balance between need for affordable housing and respecting the historic townscape which will be dwarfed by the proposed development.
"In Wandsworth we work hard to get the most affordable housing and indeed the Mayor himself has already cited Wandsworth as an excellent example of Council housebuilding.
"In rejecting this application, the planning committee had sensibly weighed up the need for development with consideration for how appropriate the application was to the area. However, the Mayor's planning team has now negotiated with the developer, without any input from the council, and overturned our decision."