The iconic Battersea Power Station is set to undergo a huge regeneration, costing an estimated £8bn.

Work is set to begin on the first phase, which will see 800 apartments built alongside amenities such as retail outlets, restaurants, a gym, pool, spa, theatre and offices.

The move will later see the creation of a new northern line underground station.

Rob Tincknell, chief executive of Battersea Power Station Development Company Has been answering questions submitted by readers on how this huge project will impact on the area.

When will S106 development money to build new infrastructure in and around the Queenstown road and Stewart's road area be used?

In total more than £1bn of new infrastructure is planned for Nine Elms. The next phase begins next year when Queen’s Circus Roundabout will be improved to reduce traffic congestion. There will also be improvements to cycling and pedestrian facilities, new landscaping, paving and street furniture.

Later phases of work include extending the Northern Line to Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station, improving the wider road network, enhancing bus services, a new riverbus pier, a new network of pedestrian and cycle paths, an extension of the Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme and widespread environmental improvements.

The area is changing from an industrial district to a new residential, leisure and business location so as you can imagine a great deal of investment is needed to update the infrastructure.

Do they (you) think this is what people from Wandsworth want?

People in Wandsworth probably have differing views of what they would like to see happen to the Power Station, but in general we think most people want to see the Power Station saved from further decay after it has stood derelict for nearly thirty years; they want to see it permanently opened up to the public and they want the 39 acre brownfield site to create homes and jobs. This scheme will deliver all three of those.

Will people on middle and low incomes be able to afford to live on the site?

We will be delivering over 500 affordable homes as part of the Power Station redevelopment, and across Nine Elms there will be at least 2500 affordable homes built. In terms of the market-price homes we are creating, when we launched Phase 1 in London prices started at roughly £330k, which was broadly in line with prices in this location. It’s too early at this stage to say what prices for the next phases will be, and we expect both the purchase and rental prices to be consistent with the wider London market.

When will local residents start seeing the effects of traffic congestion through construction vehicles.

Construction of phase one, also known as Circus West, is due to begin at the end of this month and the restoration of the Power Station itself will start in November. Clearly restoring a building of the size of Battersea Power Station and putting in big items of infrastructure like the new tube line serving Nine Elms and the Power Station will mean an increase in site traffic which will be visible to our neighbours from the beginning of 2014.

We are doing all we can to minimise the disruption to our neighbours and we are making arrangements for as much site waste as possible to be removed via the river as possible. In addition we recently ran a cycle safety training day at the Power Station which was free to attend to explain to cyclists how to take extra care around construction traffic. If you want to be kept informed about specific construction considerations we have set up a new twitter account which is @BPSConstruction.

Will Battersea Dogs and Cats home be affected?

If you say Battersea there are probably two things people immediately think of, the Power Station and the Dogs and Cats home. The Dogs and Cats home will be unaffected by the work on the Power Station, however the Dogs and Cats home is in discussion with Transport for London as to how part of their site can be made temporarily accessible to assist with the construction of the new tube line extension. When the Power Station is refurbished in 2019 staff and visitors at the Dogs and Cats home will benefit from the 18 acres of public green space we are creating on this former industrial land, including the new six acre park on the riverside and an additional half a km of riverside walkway being opened up.

There are local schools around the area – with the extra people moving in the area are there plans to expand these schools and is the company providing money towards this?

Two new primary schools are planned in the area - one on the Royal Mail site and another just over the borough boundary in Vauxhall. Plans for a new 1300 pupil secondary school have also recently been approved by Wandsworth Council and that will be located on Surrey Lane, just the other side of Battersea Park.

Both Wandsworth and Lambeth local authorities are working closely with each of the individual developers through the Nine Elms Vauxhall partnership to coordinate the location and delivery of key items of community infrastructure such as schools, medical facilities etc.

At Battersea Power Station we are building a new library, police facilities and medical centre.

Open days are being held from November 5 to 9 for people to see the latest plans. Visit http://www.batterseapowerstation.co.uk/ for details

 

TODAY'S TOP WANDSWORTH STORIES