The "iconic" fuel tank at The Oval could be "filled with flats as part of plans to develop the area around the ground," according to Ivo Tennant of the LONDON TIMES. The move comes as Surrey County Cricket Club takes the next step in its "attempts to improve the Oval," including buying two buildings across the road from the ground. The gasometer, which "still dominates the skyline," was the largest in the world when built in 1879. It was decommissioned in '14 and "would be decontaminated, dismantled and rebuilt along the lines of Battersea Power Station, with the central part of it filled with flats overlooking the field of play." Under the plan, the gasometer will "retain its lattice columns" and one-third of the apartments will be for "social housing." A smaller gasometer close by "will be demolished." An application for planning permission to rebuild the gasometer, which is just outside the ground and became a listed building last year, was submitted by Berkeley Homes and will need the consent of Historic England (LONDON TIMES, 12/20).
