Planners set to topple towers in Clapham

A £4 billion scheme for London's busiest railway station should be abandoned, planners have said.

Council officials have backed objectors who say the Heart of Battersea scheme at Clapham Junction does not fit into the area.

Proposals include two 42-storey, 142-metre residential towers, which would have 556 homes, a shopping centre, two station entrances and health centre. Wandsworth councillors will vote on the scheme on Wednesday.

The towers are by architects ColladoCollins, but more than 600 experts, residents and groups have objected to the plans. Mike Roden, of the Battersea Society, said today: "There is a lot wrong with this application — they have not included any affordable housing, they have not taken into account the fact that this area is a hub for buses and there is a log jam already most mornings."

Martin Linton, MP for Battersea, describes the towers as "out of context" with Clapham while CABE, the Government's architecture advisors, said they were "ungainly".

Wandsworth council described the plans as some of the most contentious it has ever seen.

Planners object to the scheme because of the lack affordable housing and the transport issues raised by the Battersea Society.

Developer Metro Shopping Fund — a joint venture between Delancey and Land Securities — claims its proposals are the only realistic option for the area.