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Minister kills off Ugly Sisters in blow to Boris
Mira Bar-Hillel and Sri Carmichael09.10.09
A £1billion scheme to build three towers next to the London Eye was today banned by the Government.
The "Three Ugly Sisters" project was branded "fundamentally unacceptable" by Communities Secretary John Denham. It is a blow for Boris Johnson who approved the development last year after reversing his earlier decision to block it.
Mr Denham said two office blocks, one 22-storey and one 28-storey, proposed for a site by Waterloo station and a neighbouring 33-storey set of apartments would severely harm views of the Houses of Parliament.
Today's ruling was the last hope for the 1.5million sq ft development, which was the subject of an eight-day public inquiry in May. At the inquiry, English Heritage and Westminster council expressed concern that the skyscrapers would be an eyesore.
Developers P&O Estates and Morgan Stanley had hoped to rip down the Elizabeth House office block in York Road and build on top. But Mr Denham said the replacement design was "disturbing" and lacked elegance.
He said the new buildings would "adversely affect" the Westminster World Heritage Site and "materially detract from the size and importance of Big Ben".
None of the buildings "would possess the balanced, sculptural or elegant qualities crucial to the success of tall buildings", the minister added.
He concluded: "Individually, the buildings would fall short of the excellence expected and, collectively, the scale of the design flaws would be heightened with far reaching concerns about the effects on the skyline, on important views and historic assets."
Mr Johnson approved the scheme in October last year. He had blocked the project in July last year but withdrew his objections amid accusations of flip-flopping. His election campaign relied heavily on his pledge to protect historic views.
Reader views (2)
For 'beautiful, old and much-loved buildings' read 'a ghastly bit of 60s tat by the genuinely corrupt John Poulson'. I'm still amazed that people think we're tearing down Victorian masterpieces to put up towers, in many cases we're tearing down 60s/70s stuff that's not fit for the 21st century and replacing them with high quality modern developments with far better environmental qualities, such as being designed for peopel to walk and cycle to instead of drive. This, needless to say, is a good thing and should be encouragesd.
Anyway, this is rather embarrassing to Boris who now looks two-faced in his dealings with English Heritage as well as with the Boroughs.
- Tom, London, UK
When will we get a mayor who finally stands up to these greedy ego-fueled architects and ban these hideous, ugly and polluting tower blocks that are destroying our beautiful old and much-loved buildings. London is drowning in a sea of corrupt tall glass white elephants loved by Ken Livingstone and which is why he was voted out. We all thought Boris would clamp down and ban these hollow edifices forever, it's obvious he's been seduced by developers and is a lost cause. Whoever wants to run for mayor and ban them at the next election will get my vote.
- Greg, London
