A controversial high density housing plan which could have seen the concentration of properties quadruple in Wanstead and Woodford has been shelved.

The Local Development Framework (LDF) 2015-30 report was released by Redbridge council this week and it recommends developing 800 homes on the site of Oakfield playing fields in Fencepiece Road, Ilford.

One of the options, which would have seen large scale developments in traditionally suburban “major corridors” in Woodford Green, South Woodford and Wanstead, was rejected after a consultation including responses and suggestions from over 2,000 people.

A Save Our Suburbs campaign was started against the proposal by the Redbridge Conservative group, with four petitions with a combined 3,379 signatures calling for this option to be scrapped.

250 individual emails, 1,500 postcards were sent, and a public meeting held in South Woodford in December attracted over 100 people against the proposal.

Cabinet member for planning, Cllr Helen Coomb, said potential pressures of the extra population on schools and doctors' surgeries in Wanstead and Woodford were a major factor in the decision.

She said: “There were negatives with all the options but with the Wanstead and Woodford plan there would have been particular difficulties with providing the necessary infrastructure.

“With the Oakfields plan we will have an opportunity to put in extra education establishments and medical facilities in a village-like setting.

“We will not be losing playing fields because they are protected by law, we have identified other sites to create more playing fields in Redbridge.”

Cllr Kam Rai, cabinet member for finance and chair of the LDF working group, said: “This report is 18 months of work and from looking into detail at all the options, we want to have the relevant infrastructure in place.

“This is difficult with the Wanstead and Woodford option.

"It was a case of what we want the borough to look like in ten years, schools and doctors' surgeries are already under pressure in Wanstead and Woodford."

Leader of Redbridge council, Cllr Jas Athwal, said he was not involved in the decision making but sat in on the LDF Advisory Panel meeting last week.

He said: “Oakfields was the option identified by experts before Labour took over the council.

“We have looked at all the other options and undertaken an extensive consultation with residents and it is still the preferred option."

The results of the consultation and recommendations are set to be discussed at a council committee meeting the next Wednesday (June 3).

Then a vote by councillors will be made on which option to choose at a full council meeting on June 11.

If agreed then another six week consultation will be launched into the final decision, with work on Oakfields to start in January next year at the earliest.

The Neighbourhoods and Communities Service Committee meeting will take place at 7.15pm on June 3 at Redbridge town hall in Ilford.