May 12, 1997. Copyright, 1997, Graphic News. All rights reserved

DECISION DUE ON MILLENNIUM TOWER 

Plans to build a 92-storey, 385m (1,265ft) Millennium Tower on the site of LondonÕs Baltic Exchange Ð blown up by an IRA bomb in 1992 Ð could be rejected by the City Corporation planners.
Due to be discussed by the Corporation of London planning committee on 20 May the controversial design by Sir Norman Foster has acquired numerous critics since plans were unveiled last year.
ÔIt has been described as the NatWest Tower with Canary Wharf Tower on top,Õ said Alan Winter, chairman of Trafalgar House Property, the company behind the £400 million project.
Designed as a symbol of the CityÕs global financial standing, the tower, which would house 10,000 people, would be EuropeÕs tallest building, dwarfing surrounding buildings including St PaulÕs Cathedral.
This has attracted disapproval from English Heritage which wants a 100-metre (330ft) height ceiling for all new buildings in the Square Mile.
If the planning committee votes against the scheme, the developer may either withdraw the plans, revise them, or appeal to John PrescottÕs Environment Department. 
Winter, however, remains hopeful. He says the new Labour Government recognises that the tower could have Ôenormous strategic importance for the CityÕ. Sir NormanÕs design may, like the LloydÕs building by Sir Richard Rogers, even escape a public enquiry.
 The rivalry between the Square Mile with its existing 183m (600ft) NatWest Tower and Docklands 244m (800ft) Canary Wharf to have the tallest building in Britain continues.

/ENDS