It also fears that a new structure could damage the Embankment wall, which
along with its famous ‘sturgeon’ street lamps, is a Grade II listed
structure.

Westminster City Council has also voiced concerns that the proposed Victoria
Embankment ventilation station is close to a Royal Air Force Memorial, which
is also listed.

In a recent letter to the Thames Tunnel Project Team, obtained under Freedom
of Information laws, the council opposed the proposals as they stand.

“As currently presented the City Council would strongly object to this
proposal, on the grounds of its harmful impact on the listed Embankment
wall, on the setting of nearby listed buildings, on the Whitehall
Conservation Area, and the riverside and views,” the letter said.

Westminster City Council said that the area is a “very sensitive townscape
location” and said that the “very incongruous” proposed ventilation pipes
and platform would “harm the very strong linear character of the Embankment
wall”.

It said that the structure would disrupt views of Big Ben and the Houses of
Parliament from Hungerford Bridge, which is just to the east of the proposed
structure.

The view from Hungerford Bridge is one of a number of London views that has
been ‘protected’ by Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London.

Under the mayor’s so-called Visual Management guidelines, any new development
close to a protected view should “preserve and enhance the existing
composition of the view and give context to landmarks”.

The council’s letter said: “The 4m and 6m high ventilation columns have the
potential to harmfully impact on the setting of the nearby listed buildings
and the river prospect views towards the World Heritage Site and will need
to be designed taking account of local townscape and character.”

The Palace of Westminster is one of around 30 UNESCO-designated World Heritage
Sites in the UK.

UNESCO describes the Palace as “a fine example of neo-Gothic architecture” and
as being “of great historic and symbolic significance”.

A Thames Water spokesman said that the exact designs of the ventilation
platforms and shafts are yet to be finalised.

“This is consultation in action. We launched the consultation to gather this
sort of feedback. We are working our way through all the feedback for all
the sites and we are planning to publish a report next month,” the spokesman
said.

Construction on the ‘Thames Tunnel’ is scheduled to start in 2016 and end in
around 2023.

It is being built to replace the current network that was designed 150 years
ago by Victorian engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette – the
great-great-grandfather of TV entrepreneur Sir Peter Bazalgette, who brought
Big Brother to the UK’s TV screens.

Currently, London’s sewer network discharges 39 million tonnes of untreated
sewage into the Thames in an average year, and up to three times more in
wetter years.