A huge cruise liner terminal which will transform part of the Thames looks set to be approved next week despite condemnation from residents, community groups and even a neighbouring council.

The revised Enderby Wharf project has been billed by developers as a "jewel in the crown" for Greenwich, allowing huge cruise ships to start and end their journeys in the borough

Alongside the terminal itself, there will also be 477 homes, just 75 of which will be affordable and all in one block, with buildings rising from 23 to 32 storeys high. 

But the council has received just three letters of support for the plans compared to 117 objections and a petition signed by almost 300 people, with groups lining up to criticise the development.

Yet with council officers recommending the application for approval - citing improved transport and employment opportunities - and years of delays to the project, critics are questioning whether Greenwich Council's planning board would have the guts to turn it down on July 21.

The Greenwich Society says the current plans could be "devastating" for the area and has called for a proper environmental impact assessment including options for clean "shore-based power" for the cruise liners instead of the on-board generators currently planned.

According to the developer, generators on medium sized cruise ships consume around 700 litres of diesel fuel per hour - equivalent to 400 idling lorries.

A decision on the plans has already been delayed once pending an environmental assessment, but community groups have slammed the developer's document for containing no hard data on poisonous nitrogen dioxide levels.

They also point out the development is very close to the Blackwall Tunnel and proposed Silvertown link, adding to an already heavily polluted part of the borough where tens of thousands of new homes are being built.

Greenwich Society chairman Richard Baglin, said, "Local residents are deeply concerned about this new development, particularly the pollution that would be caused by the cruise liners ‘hotelling’ at Enderby Wharf. 

"We call on the planning board to refuse permission for this planning application until a proper, detailed and thorough Environmental Impact Assessment has been submitted."

Ian Blore from the East Greenwich Residents' Association said: "We're not against a cruise liner terminal but we are against pollution and this plan will exacerbate pollution considerably."

He said: "One of the big things we're questioning is the idea that no mitigations measures need to be put in place at all."

Meanwhile, Tower Hamlets Council across the river has criticised pollution and "nonsensical "predictions that a cruise terminal would actually reduce noise for their residents.

And Jenny Jones from the Green Party said: "At a time when there are more than 9,000 early deaths a year in London from nitrogen dioxide and particulate emissions, it is madness to site a further pollution hazard in one of the most polluted corners of the city. 

"Detailed studies of nitrogen dioxide and particulate emissions from cruise ships at berth are urgently needed when planned so close to a large centre of residential population."

Launching the plans earlier this year, managing director of developer Westcourt Real Estate David Margason said: "The cruise industry is hugely enthusiastic about the London City Cruise Port, and we are confident that London will become a key cruise destination. 

"Longer stays will mean more employment and ship provisioning, resulting in cruise operators, visitors and crew spending more time and money in the locality – a move which is welcomed by London authorities together with business and tourist organisations."