Rockwell’s Glassmill plans refused after 1,500 objections

Wandsworth Council has refused plans for a 28-storey residential tower that drew thousands of objections, despite developer Rockwell trying to appease opponents with a 10-storey height reduction. Rockwell’s plans for Glassmill scheme at 1 Battersea Bridge Road received more than 1,500 individual objections and nearly 5,000 signatures on a petition to scrap the plans due to the towers’ scale and height. The developer submitted plans for a 39-storey tower in January 2024, then cut the tower down by five storeys in June last year and a further five storeys last December. The two redesigns saw the number of homes reduced by 60 to 110 homes, down from the 160 proposed in June and 170 in the original application along with 7,000 sq ft of office space and a 2,000 sq ft restaurant. However, the percentage of affordable homes increased from 35% to 50%. Planning officers in Wandsworth said that the building’s “excessive and dominant” height would “significantly harm the spatial character” of its riverside location, which is not in a designated area for tall buildings under Wandsworth’s 2023 local plan. Image from Farrells