8:28am Monday 7th November 2005
By Local London Reporter
Campaigners desperate to save Battersea Power Station's chimneys heckled and jeered council chiefs who backed the decision to replace the famous landmarks with replicas.
Wandsworth councillors agreed at last Wednesday's full council meeting that the four chimneys were too decayed to repair.
The decision to allow Parkview International to replace the chimneys with replicas had been granted at a planning committee meeting on October 13.
In the long term, Parkview wants to use the four chimneys as a brand logo for the site, which it wants to turn into a leisure and entertainment complex with flats.
Battersea Power Station Community Group (BPSCG) chairman Brian Barnes and supporters shouted down politicians during the meeting, claiming they made the wrong decision as the chimneys could have been preserved.
Councillors are unified in supporting the decision, especially as English Heritage and the Government have raised no objections.
Labour Councillor Tony Belton was applauded by fellow politicians after a speech backing the replicas.
He said: "Why would the organisation selling the whole project go about destroying the image? It does not make sense and therefore I support the application."
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