A community has vowed to fight against a controversial decision to build an apartment block close to their homes.

Residents in Tallack Road in Leyton want to appeal the planning permission granted to a 50-home development on the junction of their street and Church Road. 

Waltham Forest council’s planning committee paved the way for the five-storey block to be constructed at a planning meeting last Tuesday (August 16).

The building, proposed by developers Tallack Road Developments Ltd, will comprise of 20 per cent affordable housing, including six affordable rental homes and four shared ownership units.

However, nearby residents have voiced a number of concerns over the development.

Problems cited include loss of light and privacy in homes close to the block, increased demand for parking and the potential for issues with flooding in the area to worsen.

Sidney Barrat, who has lived in Tallack Road for 50 years, said: “We were shocked by the decision at the planning meeting to approve the development with no conditions, despite having received 19 objections.

“Residents met up twice with a councillor at Lea Bridge Library to discuss our concerns.

“These meetings were very well attended with around 28 residents all very worried and very passionate about the future of the area.

“The land has been left unkempt for many years and residents would welcome some development, such as more family houses, in line with the rest of Tallack Road. 

“We do however object to the scale and out of keeping appearance of the proposed structure. Many of our concerns were simply left unaddressed.”

The site earmarked for the development was previously used as industrial land but now stands derelict.

In 2004, planning permission was granted for a four-storey health centre on the site, but the project never went ahead.

The health centre plan was cited in a report by council officers as a reason the new five-storey development should be deemed acceptable.

Joyce Nooks, a resident for 27 years, said: “The planning committee don’t have to live in Tallack Road, we do.

“My house is right next to the development and I will be most affected by the noise, dust and pollution and yet my objections seemed to have been ignored.”

Addressing residents when the development was approved, Waltham Forest planning committee chairman, Jenny Gray, said: “I know it is difficult as you have been living next to open space for many years.

“But it is inevitable given London’s housing crisis, and our need to contribute to alleviating it, that we cannot leave ex-industrial land vacant for years and years.

“I would love to live in a world where we could just build two or three storey houses, but we cannot achieve what we need and house the people that need housing without schemes of a higher density.

“Unfortunately, in London, in an urban environment, these things are inevitable.”