A public inquiry that will decide the fate of a proposed 29-storey tower next to Battersea Bridge enters its final four days today, after both sides set out starkly different cases in opening sessions last week.
The inquiry is examining Rockwell Property’s appeal against Wandsworth Council’s unanimous rejection of its plans for 1 Battersea Bridge Road. The council threw out the scheme in April 2025, finding it would cause significant harm to the character of the area.
Whatever the inspector decides, the outcome will set a precedent for how much weight Wandsworth’s Local Plan carries when developers push for height. The same framework applies to height disputes in Putney. The verdict will tell future applicants, and future planning committees, how seriously to take it.
What the council is arguing
Douglas Edwards KC, representing the council, told the inquiry on 17 March that the tower’s height and scale would substantially harm the character of the surrounding area. The proposal conflicted with both Wandsworth’s Local Plan and the London Plan, he said, and those conflicts were not outweighed by the scheme’s benefits.
The Local Plan designates the site for mid-rise buildings of up to six storeys. At 29 storeys, the proposed tower is nearly five times that limit. The council is not opposed to redevelopment of the site, Edwards KC said, but this scheme is not appropriate and should be dismissed.
What the developer is arguing
Russell Harris KC, representing Rockwell, offered a different reading of the same policy. He argued the Local Plan should not be read as banning tall buildings on this site, calling it a “unique and totemic opportunity” to deliver housing, including affordable housing, on brownfield land.
Harris KC is among the most experienced planning barristers in the country and has appeared in nearly every major tall building inquiry in recent years. He described the tower as a building of exemplary quality that would improve its surroundings, arguing the housing benefits justify departing from the height guidance.
The scheme would provide 110 homes, 54 of them at social rent. The Glassmill building it would replace is only 7% commercially leased. Rockwell’s case is that the site can support a tall building, and that the council’s own planning framework should not be read as preventing one.
The heritage consortium’s case
Six heritage and civic societies are formal parties to the inquiry, represented by William Walton of the Royal Town Planning Institute: the Battersea Society, Chelsea Society, Cheyne Walk Trust, Friends of Battersea Park, Putney Society, and Wandsworth Society.
Their status, known as Rule Six, gives them the right to cross-examine the developer’s and council’s expert witnesses directly. In the opening session, Walton called for Rockwell’s appeal to be dismissed. The scheme was too large and too high for the site’s footprint, he said. The developer had significantly underestimated the heritage impacts, and the scheme’s benefits did not outweigh its conflicts with the development plan.
The Putney Society’s involvement as a Rule Six party means the borough’s heritage community has a formal voice in proceedings, not just a seat in the public gallery. The society’s decision to seek that status was reported in January.
The background
The Glassmill scheme has been revised three times since Rockwell first consulted on it in 2022. It started at 39 storeys, was cut to around 33 storeys when formally submitted in May 2024, and reduced again to 29 storeys with 110 homes before the planning committee met. The proportion of affordable housing rose from 35% to 50% at each revision. The scheme is designed by Farrells, the practice founded by Sir Terry Farrell.
The application attracted 2,028 objections and 1,892 letters of support. Objectors raised concerns about the support letters, many of which followed the same template and were uploaded in batches. Rockwell said gathering letters through canvassing was standard industry practice.
The Greater London Authority declined to intervene after the council’s refusal. Rockwell filed its appeal to the Planning Inspectorate in October 2025. The inquiry reference is 6002127; the planning application reference is 2024/1322.
The inquiry runs through Thursday 27 March. The inspector’s decision will follow. Putney.news will report when it is issued.
Putney.news has covered this planning battle since April 2025. The committee vote is reported at Tower toppled at Council planning meeting.
