Political heavyweights look set to intervene in yet another high-rise London property scheme being planned for the UK capital.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson (pictured) has threatened to oppose plans for a 27-storey building in Finsbury, which would include apartment homes, shops, offices and student flats.
Johnson is prepared to use mayoral powers to try to scupper or alter the property plan if it is approved by Islington Council, the Islington Gazette reports.
Land Securities, a property trust, wants to develop the plan at City Forum, City Road, which includes a series of residential homes blocks besides the tower.
According to the Islington Gazette, mayor Johnson believes the tower plan is “too tall and too bulky” and a redesigned structure should “provide a slender elegant addition to the City Road street scene”.
It is the latest planned residential property scheme to attract the wrath of politicians, after officials intervened in a plan to develop a residential tower in Ealing dubbed the ‘penny whistle’.
A planned tower already known as the ‘boomerang’ has been given the go ahead for Blackfriars Bridge in London, featuring apartment homes, but the final design is 52 storeys – 16 less than initial proposals.
Elsewhere a 310 metre development featuring offices and a selection of plush homes, called the Shard, is now under construction close to London Bridge after initial opposition to its design.
Land Securities is planning to submit a formal application for the Finsbury property project, and it remains to be seen whether the mayor’s comments will have an effect.
[Photo: adamprocter2006 CC]
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