The planning submission, from Shivisi Investments Ltd, would see 26 flats built on Hurst Road in Walthamstow, reports Sebastian Mann, Local Democracy Reporter
Plans for an apartment block on the site of a former medical centre have apparently changed course, with fewer flats but increased parking spaces proposed.
Curtis Medical’s plan for a block of 37 flats in Hurst Road was approved by Waltham Forest Council in November, despite concerns from would-be neighbours over the loss of sunlight.
After six months of inaction, fresh proposals have been put forward by separate developers for a much smaller scheme of 26 self-contained housing units and 43 parking spaces, up from two disabled bays.
One resident, speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, said neighbours had spent half a year “waiting for diggers to arrive,” but ultimately “nothing happened”.
Letters have been posted to residents in the Hoe Street ward saying that Shivisi Investments is instead looking to convert the pre-existing building.
If approved, the two-storey Hurst Road Health Centre, dormant since 2017, would be given a new lease of life.
In 2022, the same company put forward similar plans to convert an empty block of offices in the nearby district of Epping Forest into ten flats.
Applicant Jeremy Hill, of Curtis Medical, initially won permission at a planning committee meeting in November after receiving unanimous backing from members.
He had proposed demolishing the empty medical centre and building almost 40 homes for residents spread out over five storeys.
Neighbour Clare Richardson told the committee she would lose “most of [her] sunlight” if the scheme went ahead. Fellow resident Rob Lewis called the height of the building “out of proportion” with neighbouring homes.
At the time, council planning officer Lauren Kimpton said concerns about privacy had been “carefully” considered and that there would be no “undue impact” on their homes.
Though she then approved it, the scheme had also been criticised by committee chairwoman and councillor Jenny Gray, who said she would have liked to see a bigger focus on social housing.
The initial project would have only offered three four-bed family homes at London Affordable Rent, comprising 16% of the entire development.
That would have fallen significantly below Waltham Forest Council’s target of 50% of new housing in the borough being affordable.
Curtis Medical, registered in 2014 and based in Cambridge, is still active according to listings on Companies House.
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