Boris river park will ruin my view, says climate change peer

A floating Thames walkway project backed by Boris Johnson will ruin the views of Londoners living by the river, a former government adviser claimed today.

Lord Stern is among residents opposing the £60million London River Project scheme set to be completed in time for the Queen's diamond jubilee and the 2012 Olympics.

The walkway will incorporate event spaces, and even a floating swimming pool, inside eight pavilions on the north side of the Thames between Blackfriars Bridge and the Tower of London.

The Globe Theatre, City of London School and English Heritage have also criticised the scheme. There have been allegations about the financial credibility of the Venus Group, which is providing backing for the project, in a Sunday newspaper.

Nicholas Stern, who led the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change in 2006 and was head of the Government Economic Service for four years, has a property overlooking the site. He claimed the plans, which have been backed by the Mayor of London's office, would "introduce an unsympathetic linear form cutting across historic vistas".

The peer wrote in a letter to City of London planning officials: "The Thameside environment has been carefully guarded by the City planners whilst fostering an increase in footfall along the north bank and a diversification of commercial activity. The proposed river park would detract from views from both sides of the river, across the Thames and views from the Thames Path."

City of London planning officers have received objections from more than 200 residents and interested groups. A source said: "There are a lot of very rich people with very expensive pads on that side of the river and they are very worried about their view being affected. That's why they are objecting. It's nimbyism."

A Venus spokesman said the group had spent £3.35 million on plans for the park and that feedback for the project was enormously positive.