ENVIRONMENTAL  IMPROVEMENT  IN  URBAN  AREA    

FULHAM-­‐CHELSEA  WATERFRONT  ON  THE  RIVER  THAMES  

 

The  riverside  area  of  Fulham  –  Chelsea  between  Wandsworth  and  Battersea  Bridges  was  a  bare  land  when  I  moved  there  in  1987.  The  only  functional  building  was  Sainsbury’s  supermarket  near  Wandsworth  Bridge.    The  landscape  was  neglected  and  the  riverbanks  were  not  secured  after  the  Sainsbury  footpath.  On  the  Battersea  side  the  new  and  exclusive  development  site  was  just  built,  The  Chelsea  Harbour  with  marina  which  attracted  rich  people  and  celebrities  to  buy  properties  there.  Only  around  that  site  landscape  was  developed.    I  was  taking  my  baby  daughter  for  walks  along  the  developed  sites  of  the  river.  The  wildlife  was  thriving  along  the  river,  especially  birds,  insects,  rodents    and  foxes.  The  waterfront  was  ugly  and  neglected.      

On  the  land  site  there  were  remnants  from  the  previous  time,  power  stations,  gas  cylinders    and  derelict  docks  which  dominated  the  riverside    landscape.  Nobody  enjoyed  being  there  although  it  was  one  of  the  central  ecological  niche  in  London.  Over  period  of  time  it  became  a  dumping  place  for  all  sort  of  refuse  and  unwanted  domestic  appliances,  furniture  even  cars,    material  which  could  be  also  recycled.  In  one  word  it  was  unpleasant  and  health  hazard  area.  

When  developers  realised  the  vast  potential  of  the  site  and  possibility  to  make  huge  gains,  they  started  buying  or  taking  land  on  long  lease  and  developing  the  waterfront  as  an  exclusive,  beautiful  and  highly  demanded  urban  development.  Local  Authorities  found  they  benefits  in  developing  ugly  site  into  ever  so  needed  housing    as  benefits  for  local  residents  too  and  they  issued  planning  permissions  for  buildings,  marinas,  river  walks  and  canals  and  that’s  how  one  of  the  most  beautiful    waterfronts  of  London  has    been  born.    This  development    is  now  housing  wildlife  too,  because  there  are  integrated  green  areas,  parks  and  herbal  gardens  which  house  insects,  birds,  rodents  and  foxes  as  before  but  now  in  healthy  environment.  Both  people  and  wildlife  enjoy  being  there.  Me  too.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://rbkclocalstudies.wordpress.com/2012/09/20/lots-­‐road-­‐power-­‐station-­‐the-­‐glory-­‐years  

 

 

 

Lots  Road  Power  Station  (Also  known  as  the  Chelsea  monster)  is  a  disused  coal  and  later  oil-­‐fired  power  station  on  the  River  Thames  at  Lots  Road  in  Chelsea,  London  in  the  south-­‐west  of  The  Royal  Borough  of  Kensington  and  Chelsea,  which  supplied  electricity  to  the  London  Underground  system.  It  is  sometimes  erroneously  referred  to  as  Fulham  Power  Station,  a  name  properly  applied  to  another  former  station  a  mile  upriver.  

 

A  power  station  at  Lots  Road  was  originally  planned  by  the  Brompton  and  Piccadilly  Circus  Railway  (B&PCR,  now  part  of  the  Piccadilly  line)  in  1897.[  

 

The  station  was  built  end-­‐on  to  the  Thames,  on  the  north  bank  of  the  tidal  Chelsea  Creek.  

Construction  started  in  1902  and  was  completed  in  December  1904,  the  station  becoming  

operational  in  February  1905.[2]  The  station  burned  700  tonnes  of  coal  a  day  and  had  a  

generating  capacity  of  50,000  kW.[3]  At  the  time  it  was  claimed  to  be  the  largest  power  

station  ever  built,  and  it  eventually  powered  most  of  the  railways  and  tramways  in  the  

Underground  Group.  

The  station  was  re-­‐equipped  and  improved  several  times.  During  the  early  1920s  a  sump  &  

hopper  system  for  more  efficient  fuel  handling  was  installed.  It  was  designed  by  The  

Underfeed  Stoker  Company  and  constructed  under  their  stewardship  by  Peter  Lind  &  

Company,  who  still  trade  in  London  today.  The  modernisation  undertaken  in  the  1960s  

converted  the  station  to  50  Hz  generation  and  from  coal  burning  to  heavy  fuel  oil.  The  

number  of  chimneys  was  reduced  from  the  original  four  to  two.  Between  1974  and  1977,  

with  the  discovery  of  natural  gas  in  the  North  Sea,  the  boilers  were  converted  to  burn  gas,  

with  the  option  of  oil  firing  if  required.  The  station  later  worked  in  conjunction  with  the  ex-­‐

London  County  Council  Tramways  power  station  at  Greenwich  to  supply  the  London  

Underground  network.  

The  station  played  a  part  in  the  birth  of  commercial  radio  in  the  UK.  When  the  first  two  radio  

stations,  LBC  and  Capital  Radio,  opened  in  October  1973,  the  site  for  their  medium  wave  

transmitters  was  not  complete.  As  a  result,  a  temporary  'Tee'  antenna  was  strung  up  

between  the  two  chimneys  (transmitting  LBC  on  417  m  (719  kHz),  and  Capital  Radio  on  

539  m  (557  kHz)),  until  the  permanent  site  at  Saffron  Green  was  ready  in  1975.  Some  years  

later  the  site  was  used  again,  on  720  kHz  (for  a  low  power  MW  relay  of  BBC  Radio  4's  LW  

service)  which  was  in  use  until  2001  when  the  radio  transmitter  was  moved  to  Crystal  

Palace.  

In  the  1990s,  it  was  decided  not  to  re-­‐equip  Lots  Road  again;  rather  it  was  to  continue  to  operate  only  until  the  machinery's  life  was  expired.  It  was  finally  shut  down  on  21  October  2002,  and  since  then  all  power  for  the  tube  system  has  been  supplied  from  the  National  Grid.  

 

NEW  DEVELOPMENT    

http://www.chelseacreekconsultation.co.uk/.../10059-­‐0101-­‐1100303-­‐MB01-­‐EXHIB  _BOARDS_-­‐_REVISED_FINAL_screen_quality.pdf_  

Welcome  and  Introduction  _Chelsea  Creek  Consultation  www.chelseacreekconsultation.co.uk/.../10059-­‐0101-­‐1100303-­‐MB01-­‐EXHIB  _BOARDS_-­‐_REVISED_FINAL_screen_quality.pdf    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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