A controversial plan to build almost 500 new homes and two extra towers on the site of Tolworth Tower has been rejected by Kingston Council.

The application was submitted by private real-estate investors Meadow Partners in January this year, after lengthy negotiations with the Council dating back to 2019.

But today planning officers decided to refuse the plans, giving 10 reasons why the application shouldn't go through.

Kingston Lib Dems tweeted: "@RBKingston @LibDems refuse planning permission for 2 new towers (15 and 19 storeys) on the Tolworth Tower site.

"10 reasons are given. These include the lack of affordable housing, loss of office space, lack of 3 bed flats, car-parking, amenity space & height of towers."

More information on why the plans have been rejected is available in this document released today.

Surbiton Green Party Councillor Sharron Sumner tweeted her approval of the decision.

She wrote: "I am delighted to hear that the application to build additional towers at Tolworth Tower has been refused!"

If approved, the development would have provided 499 new homes, 238 of these in the two extra towers that Meadow Partners planned to build on the site.

The towers, 'T2 and T3,' would have been 19 and 15 storeys tall - almost rivalling 22-storey Tolworth Tower for its crown as the tallest building in outer London.

Meadow Partners also planned to modernise the Tower, turning its lower storeys into a lounge, gym and flexible working space for residents and adding a commercial space on the ground floor undercroft.

In January this year, a spokesperson for the applicants, Meadow Partners, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: "In October 2019, Meadow Partners received a resolution to grant planning permission for the refurbishment and conversion of Tolworth Tower to provide 261 new homes.

"Over the past 15 months, Meadow has been working with the council to complete a standard legal agreement to enable commencement but unfortunately matters remain unresolved. The outcome is that the proposed Build to Rent homes have not come forward as planned.

"Meadow is committed to working closely with the council to deliver nearly 500 new homes in Tolworth with a new site-wide proposal bringing the iconic Tolworth Tower back to life and regenerating a 60 year old estate.

"Meadow's proposals will create hundreds of jobs and millions of pounds of investment to the local area and will rejuvenate Tolworth Broadway at a time when local high streets and town centres are struggling."

But the application was controversial, with one Lib Dem Councillor calling it "absolutely horrendous" and others criticising the design and height of the new towers.

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