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Evening Standard

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ONLY LAST month plans for an 11 storey tower on top of South Kensington Tube station were withdrawn following protests from residents such as cellist Julian Lloyd Webber, ballet dancer Wayne Sleep and Mark Birley, owner of Annabel’s.

Now London Underground has returned to a previous scheme which received planning approval five years ago. The design by architect Sir Terry Farrell includes 80,000 square feet each of offices and homes and 14,500 square feet of retail space.

Kensington and Chelsea Council has sent letters to beleaguered local residents who have been bombarded with controversial schemes for the last 15 years. Although the relaunched scheme was given planning approval in 1999, and includes no high-rise buildings, the residents are still suspicious of it second time around.

“You can’t be too careful because they have a bhabit of introducing things by stealth.” Says local resident Lucy Gormanson, daughter of actor Edward Fox.