Despite being thrown out by Merton Council, plans for a "monster" tower block will now go before the London Mayor's office for further scrutiny.

Plans for a 10-storey tower located at Benedict Wharf, including 850 homes, were rejected by Merton Council at a Planning Committee Meeting on June 18.

Waste management company SUEZ recycling and recovery UK had put forward proposals for the demolition of the waste management facilities and the development of housing.

In the plan, SUEZ had put forward a scheme including a development of up to 850 new residential dwellings and up to 750 sqm of flexible commercial floorspace, with associated car parking, cycle parking, landscaping and infrastructure.

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The tower and associated work caused concerns over the proposed access to the site and local amenities - with objectors stating the trams will overflow at peak times and parking provision was not realistic.

Issues also raised at the meeting included the plans representing "overdevelopment" and that the tower block would "harm the conservation area."

Councillor Owen Pritchard said he recognised the need for new homes and supported the repurposing of the site from industrial usage to residential.

However, he felt that the proposal for 850 new homes would detract from the sense of place that the conservation area brought and create congestion and air quality problems.

Concerns were also raised on the overall visual impact, being classed as "overwhelmingly negative" by a society group.

Secretary of Mitcham Cricket Green Community & Heritage, Tony Burton said:

"The scale will swamp the cottages in Church Path, intrude on London Road Playing Fields and the Parish Church and even be visible from the historic cricket ground and Morden Hall Park.

"Benedict Wharf should be developed as a natural extension of Mitcham. Instead we have an alien, excessively high, placeless, mega development in a giant cul-de-sac.

"Opportunities to plan for sites like Benedict Wharf are rare.

"Its future should be decided through the Local Plan and alongside plans for the renewal of Phipps Bridge estate.

"This will deliver more homes and better meet housing needs.

"The application is premature to the Local Plan, contrary to planning policy and damaging to Mitcham."

He added: "We have spent 30 months doing everything we can to work with Suez to design a development that will be welcomed by the community.

"After starting positively, Suez has turned its back on local people, closed its ears, and listened only to those demanding extra height and density."

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A spokesperson for SUEZ recycling and recovery UK said:

“While it has not always been possible to represent every view, we have designed the scheme based on community feedback and we thank those involved for their significant contribution to the final plans.

“Following consultation with the Greater London Authority and Merton Council, the plans were revised to accord with national planning policies and those within the emerging London Plan.

"They require that development on the most accessible brownfield land next to transport hubs to be carefully designed to provide the optimum number of homes to meet housing need and combat the climate emergency.

"The revised plans propose up to 850 homes with 35% of those being affordable and Merton Council’s independent Design Review Panel felt that the 850-unit scheme was an improvement.

“Reflecting the feedback from the local community, the development would provide a new walkable sustainable community which prioritises pedestrians, cyclists and play.

"High-quality landscaping, trees, green roofs, green walls and nature-based drainage will be provided in an enhanced public realm which provide new public access routes across the site.

"Direct access would be provided to Belgrave Walk tram stop via new linear open space linking with London Road Playing Fields and Baron Walk would be significantly improved and enhanced.

"The development will result in a reduction in vehicle movements, enhanced bus capacity and almost complete elimination of HGV traffic.

"There will be net gains for biodiversity and the proposals will deliver benefits to townscape and heritage.

“In addition, the proposed development would contribute over £10 million to the community infrastructure levy and deliver approximately £4 million of additional household expenditure to be retained in Merton, supporting local shops and businesses.”