It's official. Battersea Power Station's world-famous chimneys will be knocked down and rebuilt, despite objections from across the globe.
The decision was made at a planning meeting last Thursday, after Wandsworth Council rejected proposals to refurbish the chimneys.
Parkview International, which is redeveloping the site, said its engineers decided it would be impossible to repair the chimneys as they stood.
But Battersea Power Station Community Group (BPSCG), which is fighting to preserve the historic building, also produced a report by engineers that stated the chimneys could be refurbished and did not need to be demolished.
Objections to knocking down the chimneys before rebuilding them have come from as far afield as Ohio, Sweden and Holland.
BPSCG said the legal agreement Parkview had signed to ensure it did rebuild the 160ft chimneys, was "not worth the paper it was written on".
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The agreement, called a unilateral undertaking, comes with a letter of credit that ensures the money to refurbish the chimneys is available should Parkview fall into financial difficulties.
But Brian Barnes, chairman of BPSCG, said that because Parkview is registered in the British Virgin Islands, the council would not be able to enforce the agreement.
At the planning meeting on Thursday, October 13, chairman Councillor Ravi Govindia said: "Members have concerns that the contract for the demolition and rebuilding of the chimneys should be robust, deliverable and enforceable and should be as good as this council can obtain."
He said members of the committee could see the legal agreement but would not be able to negotiate it.
Mr Barnes said in 1989, John Broome demolished the west wall and roof and the council was powerless to enforce a rebuild. He added: "We are convinced demolishing the chimneys is a prelude to complete demolition."
He said the report, prepared by a team of experts, revealed the chimneys could be repaired for half the cost of demolition and rebuilding.
A spokesman for Parkview said: "We have been surveying and undertaking trial repairs to these chimneys for some two years. The other team have only had the benefit of two months and they have not worked on the chimneys they have simply looked at our results and critiqued them."
Parkview has five years to start the work and a further three to complete it. The chimneys will demolished two at a time, but the second pair cannot be demolished until work has started on the first pair.
However, campaigners say this means there could be a period when the iconic riverside landmark has no chimneys at all.
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