Third application for flats near Upminster station submitted

A third application for flats to replace a commercial unit beside a busy train station has been made, after the previous one was labelled an ‘oppressive development’.

Under the proposals, Unit 1A in Howard Road beside Upminster station would be demolished to make way for four flats, a single bedroom flat, two double-bedroom flats and a triple-bedroom flat.

The proposed development has been designed around a gated courtyard and communal garden.

It would contain parking, cycle storage and bin storage.

Havering Council confirmed it had received the plans on July 7 and said consultations will be carried out.

Sewell, the applicant which owns the site freehold, submitted its latest proposal after its second application was dismissed on June 12.

The last application was rejected on the basis that it would provide a substandard level of accommodation and a significant sense of enclosure for future occupiers.

“The proposed site coverage, scale, bulk and massing along the boundaries of nearby properties would be an unneighbourly, dominant, overbearing and an oppressive development,” said the council under its conditions for refusal.

“The proposals […] adversely impact on the living conditions of future occupiers with very poor private external amenity areas and outlook,” it added.

PREVIOUS: Plans submitted to build four flats beside Upminster station

To address these concerns, the agent Collins and Coward provided a cover letter to say the applicant had responded to all prior criticisms.

“There is no issue with the loss of employment space and there is significant policy support for new housing in an unquestionably sustainable location close to the train station.

“There are no longer any issues of privacy and the quality of the accommodation provided is based upon a large courtyard with a set of deisgn windows, a front garden and a communal space.

“The bulk and mass is set away materially from the residential properties fronting Howard Road in response to the previous application decision.”

The applicant’s first proposal for the site, received by the council on September 19, 2021, was dismissed two months later.

An appeal for the initial application was dismissed on January 1, 2023.

This was on the grounds that “the scale, bulk and massing of the proposed development” would have an “overbearing impact” on neighbours.

The council has set a decision date for the current application of September 1.

To follow the progress of the application, go to P1087.23 on the council’s planning portal.