Lots Road

The Lots Road project was highly controversial. The site is that of Lots Road power station, which provided power for the entire London Underground system well into the 1990s. The power station stands on Chelsea Creek, which was used as a wharf for delivering coal to the station. The Creek forms the boundary between two local authority areas, Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington & Chelsea, with the development site straddling it. Hammersmith & Fulham Council supported the proposals. However, Kensington & Chelsea was opposed because of the visual impact of the proposed residential towers, 37 and 25 storeys high and envisaged by Terry Farrell as 'a dancing couple', sleek and shapely. Planning consent was refused for the part of the site lying within Kensington & Chelsea despite the support of the Mayor of London, CABE and English Heritage for the project.

Like Hammersmith & Fulham, the Mayor was attracted by the overall approach and the promise of a large element of affordable housing. The planning application was called in and a public inquiry held. DP9 marshalled substantial support for the scheme, which was subsequently granted consent by then Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott in 2006. A legal challenge was later mounted to this decision but was dismissed by the High Court in 2007. One of the most positive aspects of this scheme is the proposed conversion of the redundant power station, dating from 1905, into apartments, with its great turbine hall reconfigured as a glazed galleria containing shops, restaurants and bars. The two surviving chimneys will be retained and a new route opened up from Lots Road to the riverside.