Boris Johnson’s right-hand man has attacked the Government’s decision to review the £1 billion redevelopment of the Shell building on the South Bank.
Sir Edward Lister, the Mayor’s chief of staff and deputy for planning, said critics of the scheme were “ridiculous” for thinking they could keep the area “in aspic” in the long-term.
He claimed the concerns of opponents to the scheme, who fear it could harm the area, were "unjustified". Sir Edward also dismissed claims that the development could impact on the World Heritage Site across the Thames at Parliament Square.
He said: “The area is changing, there’s room to grow and expand, and yet there’s this view that you’ve got to hold the whole of the South Bank in aspic almost and no change can take place. You can’t do that. The very same people who are saying, ‘I can’t get a home for my children in London’, because they can’t afford it, are saying, ‘Don’t build near me’. It’s ridiculous. Nobody is saying we should destroy the look and feel of Westminster.”
The Shell scheme, which will overhaul the site next to the London Eye, was called in for review by the Government in September amid concerns over whether the scheme met existing design and conservation rules. It was previously approved by Mr Johnson, Labour-run Lambeth and Southwark councils and the South Bank centre.
The 1.45 million sq ft complex was to comprise the existing 27-storey Shell centre, eight new buildings with shops and offices and 877 homes.
Sir Edward insisted his lawyers would make their case “very forcibly” at the inquiry and praised the plans, saying: “For goodness sake, anybody who looks at the Shell scheme, do you think that it radically changes it? No.
“It’s a much more intense development. It’s giving Shell a new global headquarters there with the space that they need.”
