Battersea Power Station opens to public for first time since 1930s

Pic:The river bank in Battersea
Staff reporter(wp/es):

A stretch of riverbank in front of Battersea Power Station opens to the public today for the first time since the generator was built in the Thirties.

The one-acre space lies along the initial phase of the £9 billion redevelopment of London’s most famous industrial building.

The land had previously been the site of a warehouse and coal storage for the huge turbines that created power for thousands of London homes and had been out of bounds to the public for at least 90 years.

It will be accessible through a new entrance in a former railway arch called Grosvenor Bridge Arch, near Chelsea Bridge and Battersea park.

Residents are expected to start moving into the first phase of the Malaysian-backed scheme, called Circus West, by the end of this month. Restaurants, bars and shops are to open in the summer. The space will eventually form part of the six-acre Power Station Park, which will run in front of and to either side of Europe’s largest brick building. This will open up the entire stretch  of the Thames riverbank in front of it by 2020. 

Londoners will then be able to walk on the south side of the river from Chelsea Bridge all the way to Tower Bridge for the first time.

Rob Tincknell, chief executive of Battersea Power Station Development Company, said: “We are delighted that we are able to open new public spaces for London and are starting to bring the power station and its surrounds back into London life. This new stretch of the Thames that is opening has always been off limits.

“When Circus West village’s exciting mix of independent retailers, restaurants and cafes begin to trade this  summer, the riverbank will be brought alive and become a new riverfront neighbourhood for London.”