My first response to the news that Mayor Johnson is likely to over-rule Tower Hamlets Council and give the go-ahead to the proposed 800 foot Columbus Tower in Canary Wharf, was that any Docklands skyscraper even fractionally less numbingly dull to behold than One Canada Square could only be an improvement. My second was to once again note the public devotion Boris shows on every possible occasion to Crossrail, which he claims will benefit to the tune of £4 million to be extracted from the Columbus's developer Commercial Estates. Whatever attempts to trim Crossrail's costs may Cameron and Osborne might make, no one will be able to accuse the Mayor of not speaking up for the project.
If and when the tower – which would be London's tallest - ever gets to touch the stars many vicissitudes will have been overcome. Tower Hamlets had previously approved the scheme - whose 60 storeys will contain a hotel, office space and 70-odd flats - after reaching an agreement with London City Airport, which had opposed it. The LCA had worried that it would endanger incoming aircraft unless 20 layers were removed, but also figured it would lose out if Canary Wharf did not continue to expand. The compromise was that planes will take a detour north to avoid the risk of an aviation disaster. A public hearing is to take place next month before Boris takes a formal decision. His present line seems unlikely to be met with universal approval.
