St Bernard’s Day Centre, in Peel Way, will be demolished to make way for new housing after Havering Council-owned developer Mercury Land Holdings was granted planning permission.
The flat block will be three storeys tall, and consist of eight two- and three-bed homes and one one-bed home.
The planning officer’s report reveals that “several” objections were made to the plans after they were submitted in 2023, including concerns over “parking issues” and a “loss of light” to neighbouring properties.
Some residents said the “overbearing” design of the flats would be “out of scale and character” with the nearby area.
One comment said: “It will set an unwanted precedent for development in this area of Harold Wood which will be detrimental to the neighbourhood feel and aesthetics of this area.”
Concerns were also raised by councillors in 2023 over the cost of the project to Havering Council.
Councillors argued that Havering’s “really perilous” financial position meant it should seek extra advice on the £3.4 million investment needed for the scheme.
However, the officer’s report concluded that the principle of redevelopment is “acceptable”, given that the site has been vacant “for a minimum of nine years”.
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A daylight report was also submitted to the council’s planning team, which concluded that the development is “not anticipated to have any notable impact on the daylight received by neighbouring properties”.
The initial proposals for the site were amended to change the number of three-bedroom and one-bedroom homes, as well as to rearrange the parking spaces.
A communal garden is also no longer part of the plans – instead being swapped for a two private gardens for the ground floor homes.
St Bernard’s Day Centre has been vacant since December 2012, but community use ended in April 2015 due to “funding issues and fewer referrals”, according to the officer’s report.
