Mayor of London Announces Redevelopment Plans for Nine Elms, Battersea

The Mayor of London has announced plans to redevelop Nine Elms, Battersea and the surrounding area into “a brand new district for the capital”, potentially creating 16,000 new homes and 25,000 new jobs. The regeneration plan includes the creation of green open spaces, a cycle and pedestrian bridge linking Nine Elms with Pimlico and, perhaps most significantly, an extension of the London Underground’s Northern Line to Battersea Power Station.

The plans also propose new pedestrian and cycle networks, better designed homes and communities and a decentralised energy network.

The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said:

‘This vision represents the final piece of the jigsaw that completes the central area of London. Although we are currently in a downturn, the area as it stands will, in the coming decades, deliver a substantial number of new homes and new jobs. The regeneration of Vauxhall and Nine Elms now is hugely significant in allowing us to support the economic growth of the whole of the capital, and, with the other major regeneration projects like the Olympic Park and Kings Cross taking shape, the prosperity and the role of our great city in the world is assured.

‘More than that, [this] area...will become a thriving new quarter for living, leisure and business and an easily accessible destination for Londoners and visitors.”

The Mayor acknowledges that the key to the realisation of this regeneration project lies in the relocation of the United States Embassy to Nine Elms, the redevelopment of Battersea Power Station and the success of New Covent Garden Market.

To support the plan, the Mayor has announced that developers involved in the regeneration of Nine Elms will be exempt from paying the Crossrail levy (a charge on central London businesses to help fund construction of a critical London transport link) and will instead be expected to contribute towards construction of the Northern Line extension to Battersea.

Rob Tincknell, the managing director of Treasury Holdings UK, the company that plans to redevelop Battersea Power Station into “London’s cultural hub”, said that he was delighted with the Mayor’s support for the regeneration of the area. Needless to say, we at Hotel Rafayel wholeheartedly echo this view.

The redevelopment of Nine Elms and the surrounding area will bring enormous benefits to all of Battersea and will have a tremendous impact upon the social, economic and cultural life of the area. This is an exciting –indeed, unprecedented—time for Battersea and we are proud to be part of it.